Psionic Strength Trilogy: Nights in White Satin
by Animal Urges
Summary: Rebecca never really made big decisions that would make a great impact before the homebody moved across the United States to live as a teacher in Charles' facility. After the war happened, Rebecca chose to stay and help Hank with Charles' addiction before a knock came on the door from a man named Logan claiming he's from the future.
1. An Offer

The sun shone through the clouds, almost the brightest it's ever been this whole afternoon, it was either that or Rebecca had gotten used to how dark the garden looked from it being blocked for five minutes. Even though it was mostly sunny, there was still the chill of the winter breeze blowing around, fighting to get the last word before it dies away and summer emerges. Rebecca hummed out to a song as she went back to her trashcan and threw away a couple of weeds. She turned back around and went back to her spot, wiping sweat from her brow and giving her legs a stretch from crouching down for so long. She closed her eyes and rolled her neck around and around to ease the tension off of her body.

"You should get a job" came the annoying voice to her left, "You've been home for too long and will run out of space to plant stuff"

Rebecca opened her eyes into a glare as she turned to the source of the voice; her cat. When the family cat figured out that Rebecca could understand what he was saying, she thought that he would be ecstatic to have someone in the family to talk to. Instead, every second of every day Chase finds a way to make himself useful by insulting whatever she does. Like in this case, telling her to get a job or plant catnip for him to destroy when it's not even coming up off of the ground.

"I only just graduated two weeks ago" Rebecca replied back.

She crouched down to her plants and carefully examined the ground. She brushed her fingertips over the newly soiled ground before her hands brushed over a little bub just barely peeking out. Rebecca smiled to herself before out of the corner of her eye came Chase as he rubbed himself onto his back dangerously near her plants.

"Didn't you tell your parents that some of your friends had already gotten jobs?" Chase asked.

Rebecca didn't reply, only dipped her fingers into the water pail and splashed it onto her cat. Chase instinctively jumped out of the way with a meow before he hissed at her from a couple of feet down the trail.

"You deserved it!" Rebecca called back.

Rebecca let out a laugh before she turned around and gasped when she realized that someone was watching her.

She shot up from the ground and dusted off her pants, hoping that whoever these two people were that they didn't see her talking to her cat. The tall, lanky one seemed almost as uncomfortable as she was at this moment as he cast his eyes away and glanced down the street with his big glasses. The other was a man in a wheelchair with blue eyes and short hair that you could tell had a wave in it. The second man seemed almost amused, like as if he was watching a show which made Rebecca's heart crumble in her chest. She should've been more careful with using her abilities in the front yard of all places.

The man in the wheelchair was the first to speak, "I love your garden. So many beautiful plants in all different stages of growth"

He took this time to look around as Rebecca glanced back over to her cat. Chase didn't seem to be listening into the conversation as he continued to lick himself clean. She nervously bit her lip as she turned back to the pair. Rebecca just had to act like this was all just another normal visit of some two strangers approaching her house.

"Are you here to see my parents?" Rebecca pointed back toward her home, "They just left to pick up my brother"

The pair glanced to each other as they seemed to have a different muted conversation amongst themselves. Rebecca placed her hand behind her leg and gently moved her fingers in an intricate fashion. A rock on the right of the garden slowly levitated as she regretted thinking this but knew she would have to defend herself when it comes down to it.

"Oh, please, there is no need for that, Rebecca, we're not here to hurt you" The man in the wheelchair turned to her, making Rebecca blink in surprise.

Something about the way he stared into her eyes suddenly made her believe in what he was saying. Still, it could've been a coincidence that he told her that the second she picked up a stone.

That was before the man nodded over to the boulder she was lifting up which was clearly out of both of these men's peripheral visions.

Rebecca's mouth dropped open but she didn't let her guard down. She glanced back to Chase who this time, seemed intrigued with what was happening. He only glanced at her for a brief moment as his tail twitched. She turned back to the men and took a step back even though something inside of her told her that these two meant her no harm. Still, she wasn't going to take any chances.

"Who are you?" Rebecca asked wearily.

Something told her that she already knew the answer before they even gave her one as the tall man suddenly started to change into a different shade. Rebecca gasped as she lost concentration and let the boulder fall with a hard thud to the ground. The man didn't seem to notice before he glanced down and quickly went back to the car. Rebecca watched him go before she turned to the man in the wheelchair whose eyes seemed to bore into her own.

The man spoke, "My name is Charles Xavier and that was Hank McCoy, we're mutants just like you"

"How did you know I was one?" Rebecca asked.

"I was able to locate you through my own gift" Charles said as he tapped his temple.

Rebecca pieced together, "You can read minds?"

Charles only nodded as Hank came back from the car, putting his jacket back on. She couldn't help but notice that he was back to looking human. Rebecca turned around back to Chase as he stared with an unpleasant look before he got up and started to walk back to the house.

Rebecca decided to do the same as she went over to the front gate and opened it for them. Charles nodded a thank you as she led the two men into her house, knowing her parents probably would not like her decision of letting strange people into their home.

Rebecca kicked off her workboots by the door, took off her garden glove that was still on one hand and shoved it into her oversized jacket as she placed it on the coathanger.

She walked past the living room and into the kitchen before she glanced at the hallway mirror. She silently let out a small groan as she had noticed that the wind had made her hair frizzy with fly-aways everywhere. Sweat was still gleaming on her cheekbones with her cheeks already sunburned. Rebecca tried her best to ignore how she looked as she picked up a few things from the kitchen, along with some coke-a-cola. She walked back into her living room where both Hank and Charles were waiting for her.

Rebecca set down the trays as she wished her father was also here. It seemed that out of everyone in the family, it was only her father and Rebecca who inherited mutant abilities. At first, her mother was surprised that even her own husband was a mutant but found a new love for their kind when she watched her father teaching Rebecca how to control her powers in the backyard. In a selfish way, Rebecca was glad her younger brother didn't inherit their gifts otherwise her mother would have no one to relate to.

"This is very lovely" Charles had taken a bite out of her homemade brownies, "You must put something different into these ones, I know you do. Otherwise, this is the best brownie I have ever eaten in my entire life"

Chase spoke from his perch, "I wouldn't know! I am apparently allergic to chocolate"

"Thank you very much" Hank nodded as he took a bite as well.

Rebecca blushed as she said, "Thank you"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you but we aren't really here because we heard about your brownies and abilities" Charles straightened up as he glanced over to his friend, "The truth is, we're from a school for people just like us. We've been teaching students to control their powers and such but haven't really taught anything else. We're on a mission to recruit teachers to educate them in other matters. Something that a school would actually do"

"And you believe that I can teach?" Rebecca asked.

Charles smiled, "Well, did you not just complete a teaching program? I know that when I was trying to locate you, you were terrified of being out in the real world because of who you are. You heard about what had happened in Cuba and I apologize but that was due to us. I feel that in giving you this opportunity to work with some children just like you then you won't feel afraid to hide anymore"

"Yes, sure" Chase said from the corner, "Just go off to wherever the hell they tell you to and you'll be dead by the morning. Great plan!"

"I have some pictures of the facility if you want to see them" Hank suggested, "Just so that you know that this place actually exists"

"I would love to see the pictures" Rebecca told him.

Hank took out a manilla folder and handed it to her as Rebecca leaned forward and flipped through the pictures. It showed the sign, a building that looked more like a mansion if anything, and then the students. Rebecca's mouth dropped yet again as she noticed mutants with physical attributes walking around freely. Some pictures had teachers teaching a classroom and even the mess hall and some dormitories. The last one was of a group photo about 50 students with Charles in the middle looking proud as ever.

"It's lovely and earth shattering" Rebecca responded, "I never knew so much of us existed. To walk freely like this seems almost remarkable. Did you find every single one of them?"

Charles nodded, "Most of them, I found. Some even found out about our school and came to visit. My point was to show that we're not alone"

"You definitely proved that to everyone" Rebecca handed the pictures back, "It's great to know someone is helping us instead of…"

"Fearing us?" Charles asked.

Hank stepped in, "If you accept, obviously you would get a private room instead of a dorm. The top floor is where we have the dorms and we choose to mingle with the students so that they will see more of us. The ground floor is where all the classrooms, mess hall, and library is at, plenty of space for the classrooms. If you want to store some stuff from home, there is plenty of space in the basement. Also-"

"What a minute" Rebecca waved, "I didn't accept. I just said it was nice, I didn't say anything about going. Where is this place even located?"

"North Salem" Hank answered before Charles could respond, "New York, of course. That's where the mansion is located"

"New York!?" Rebecca let out, "You came from New York to try and recruit me?"

"Oh, dear" Chase commented from the side.

Charles waved at Hank for him to stop, "Yes, it is a very big move. It just shows how far we were willing to travel to find someone like you. Someone who is loyal, persistent, and patient. You don't get that many people here, let alone mutants with that kind of behavior. Students need that in a teacher"

"But what about my family? I can't just leave" Rebecca glanced around the living room, "I've grown up in Seattle my whole life. I can't just leave this all behind me"

Before Charles could say anything, the front door opened as running feet pounded down the hall before Rebecca's little brother, Otto, came into view. He suddenly stopped and stared at the two men in his home as both her mother and father came in after him. Just as she expected, her father glanced from Rebecca back over to Hank and Charles contemplating exactly what she had before in the yard.

"Dad, this is Charles Xavier and Hank McCoy. They're mutants"

"And you let them into our home? Rebecca, what were you thinking?"

"It's alright, we were just leaving" Charles said as Hank got up from the couch.

Her father approached as he waved both Rebecca's mother and brother into the kitchen, "I'm sorry, she didn't mean it like that. She honestly didn't know I was a mutant until Rebecca barely turned 11. She's a bit protective over her family after that. Please, stay, if you must. But I'm sure you don't mind that if you're talking to my daughter then I also want to be in the room as well"

"There is really no need for that, thank you, Mr. Luesby. We merely just came here to talk to your daughter about a teaching opportunity at our facility" Charles took out a card but hesitated to give to Rebecca before he gave it to her father, "We believe your daughter would be an extraordinary fit to our staff and hope she feels the same. Please, feel free to call the number on the back, it's our hotel number, we'll be staying until Thursday"

Her dad gave a nodd as he shook Charles' hand, "Of course! She will definitely let you know before you leave. Make sure to catch some sun rays while you can here, it's supposed to rain after tomorrow"

"Oh, indeed, we will, we have never been in Seattle before so we are planning on seeing tourist attractions before we go" Charles turned back to Rebecca still sitting on the couch, "Good bye, Rebecca, hope to hear from you soon"

Rebecca got up and shook both of their hands before she followed them to the front of the house.

"Thank you for coming by" Rebecca said politely as she glanced down to the card twirling in her father's hand.


	2. Stability

The next day was just as rainy as her father had said. This meant that Otto had to stay indoors once he was out of school, much to her little brother's dismay. Instead of listening into her brother's constant whining of the day, Rebecca made her way over to the fridge. She pulled out a coke-a-cola before she closed the fridge door and noticed the business card of Charles' school displayed on the cooler. She was actually surprised that it was still there considering how her mother had made a big deal over dinner about having mutants over without her father being home.

"Still thinking about it, Becky?" a voice said from behind her.

Rebecca gasped and turned around to see her father had come in through the garage door. He smiled to her as if scaring her was something he's used to doing. He dropped his keys onto the counter before grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl and sat on the kitchen table. Rebecca sighed before she walked over and sat down next to her father, knowing this is what he wanted her to do.

"I didn't hear you come home" Rebecca replied.

"The last meeting was cancelled, thankfully" her dad told her.

Rebecca nodded before her eyes shifted a little bit upward before she realized the manilla envelope was still on the table. She rolled her eyes and glanced over to her father who just hummed and gazed up towards the ceiling as if trying to spot a rain leak. She leaned back into the chair as she tossed the business card onto the envelope and folded her arms over her chest.

Him coming home just about the same time as both Rebecca and Otto, the business card on the fridge, and the manilla envelope on the table were not just coincidence. Rebecca should've noticed this before hand but now realized that she had no way out of avoiding this conversation.

"You cancelled your meeting, didn't you?" Rebecca turned to her dad.

Her dad shrugged as he said, "I feel like I barely got a word in with all of your mother's constant worrying last night"

Rebecca nodded, "I feel like everyone barely did"

Rebecca rubbed her lips together as she glanced up to the two evidence that yesterday was not some wild dream.

Even though her mother was worried about Charles and Hank, Rebecca was glad they didn't interrogate her just as much. All of this was too overwhelming about them needing a teacher and not just any teacher, but a mutant teacher. It almost was everything that she could've ever hoped for, except the location that is. Ever since her mother found out that she was a mutant, Rebecca had a bit of a sheltered life to say the least. And if possible, became more sheltered when after the whole Cuba incident was on worldwide news.

Her dad nodded to the card, "You thinking about accepting?"

"I'm not too sure…"

"Is that you talking or your mother's worrying?"

"A little bit of both" Rebecca answered honestly.

"We all know what's holding your mother back, why not talk about what's going on inside that little head of yours?" her dad leaned over and pet her brunette hair.

"I don't want to leave this family behind" Rebecca explained, "I mean, it's great to know there are others like us but what can I prove there?"

"Isn't it more than enough that these people seeked you out of hundreds, staying until nearly a week in the same city, and opening a job up specifically for you convincing enough?" her dad asked.

"What if I don't like it there?" Rebecca countered.

Her dad chuckled, "I highly doubt that lanky nerd and paralyzed man is going to keep you hostage if it ever comes to that"

Rebecca then straightened up and looked to her dad, "Maybe you can come with me just to see what it looks like?"

"No, they came to you alone for a reason, Rebecca" her dad shook his head, "It's time to start setting down roots somewhere else other than home… just like your plants"

Rebecca glanced outside, "What will mom think?"

"Leave your mother to me" Her dad smiled.

"You know she's going to freak out if I move across the States" Rebecca turned to her dad.

Her dad chuckled again, "Your mother freaks out if she wakes up six minutes after her alarm clock rings. She might have detested the idea last night, but if she believes that's what you want then she will let you go. Just don't tell her the morning of that you're leaving"

Rebecca rolled her eyes, "You know I won't"

Her dad leaned over and took the phone and placed it on the table, "Then what are you waiting for?"

"I don't know" Rebecca felt her fingers tremble.

"Aren't you just a little bit curious to see other mutants, I know I would be" her father grinned.

Rebecca sighed, "But I love it here, dad. I like stability, home, and a sense of belonging. How am I going to find that there. I have all of that here. I should look for a job here in Washington. I have everything I ever wanted right at my very feet"

Her father slowly nodded as he picked up the envelope and flipped through the pictures. He set down only three pictures from the whole pile. One of a teacher in a classroom full of students, another was the mansion, and the last one was the group picture of everyone in it. He leaned back and stared at the pictures for a moment before he pushed them toward her as if she already couldn't see them.

Her dad then pointed to the classroom picture, "Stability"

"Being a teacher provides security" Rebecca mumbled.

Her dad then pointed to the mansion, "A place to call home. Of course, a sense of belonging with mutants alike"

Rebecca stared down to the picture that her father was pointing at. All the mutants were smiling as her eyes lingered on Charles once more. He had so much love for his students that she could almost feel it come off of the photo.

Rebecca glanced over to her father, "You really believe that this is a wise move, don't you? I just hope everyone else will feel the same way. Oh, and by the way, if I get sick and start puking from missing you guys so much, I'm going to throw the nearest car all the way over to your head. What's worse is that mom will say I told you so"

Her father let out a booming laugh that blew his cover as from the second floor, they heard Otto jump down from his bed and run to his door. Within a matter of seconds, the youngest of the family ran over to their father and jumped up onto his lap.

Their dad let out a groan as he kissed him on the top of his head, "Hey, kiddo! How was school?"

Rebecca leaned forward and placed her hand on the phone, "Thanks, dad"

"Anytime, Becky" her dad winked as he picked up Otto and left the kitchen.

Rebecca cleared her throat as she dialed the number on the back with shaking hands as she listened to it ringing for what felt like eternity but in reality was only four rings.

"Hello?" came a voice unfamiliar to her.

Rebecca straightened up, "Oh, I'm sorry! I meant to call Mr. Xavier, I might've just dialed incorrectly"

"No, it's alright, you have the right number" the voice said, "This is Hank McCoy, I came by yesterday as well. Have you made your decision already?"

Rebecca nodded before she realized how stupid she must've looked, "I accept in becoming a teacher at Xavier's school for Gifted Youngsters… but under one condition"

There was talking in the background before Hank said, "What is your condition?"

Rebecca turned and glanced outside before she said, "That I have a place to grow a new garden"


	3. The New Teacher

"Here we are!" Charles let out cheerfully.

"Home sweet home" Hank said behind him as he carried some of Rebecca's luggage.

Rebecca bit her top lip nervously as Charles and Hank led the way to the mansion she has seen in the photos. She glanced around before she walked on shaky legs into the building where some students were walking around the mansion holding books, homework, and continuing conversations around her. When Charles came in, some of the younger students had stopped and ran up to hug him and also greeted Hank like a big brother. She took special note of this as she glanced around at the main room as students talked around her. Rebecca reached behind her and closed the door before she felt something bump into it.

"Watch it!" Chase hollered, "I'm still drowsy from the awful plane ride"

"You're always drowsy" Rebecca snarked back, "You didn't have to come, you know?"

Chase sat down and looked up to her, "It wasn't _me_ that wanted to go, your mother insisted that I come… for a price"

"Right, the whole extra gourmet wet food I have to buy" Rebecca rolled her eyes, "Of course that's why you decided to tag along. At least I'll have a familiar face here. Even if it's my pessimistic housecat"

"Yes, and to everyone else you'll look like a complete lunatic"

Rebecca blinked and turned back to Chase who only snickered as he started to clean the side of his paw to wipe his face. Rebecca let out a low growl as she wished that her mother hadn't convinced her father to talk to Chase into coming here. She turned back around and griped her bag tighter before she heard a snap as the handle had broken and her suitcase fell onto the floor. She silently cursed at herself as she dropped down and picked up her bag and cradled it to her chest as Charles wheeled toward her.

Charles beamed, "So you have three powers, why haven't you told us before?"

"I don't really talk about it" Rebecca blushed.

"Why not?" Charles pondered.

Rebecca shrugged, "You don't really go around talking to people about gifts you can use. Especially when you can control stones, talk to animals, and are incredibly strong for such a small body. You know what happens to mutants who aren't welcomed into society"

"No, that's not it" Charles peered at her more closely, "You like being different but disapprove of your powers"

"Did you just read my mind?" Rebecca blinked in surprise to him.

"No" Charles shook his head, "But I've seen that look before on some of my students. In the little time I've known you, you tend to like the tender activities rather than more outworldly sort of hobbies. Your powers show more masculinity if anything so you tend to lean towards feminine crafts thinking that your powers define you. I can assure you that they don't, Rebecca. You don't have to hide your powers anymore. You're among friends now and safe from the outside world"

Rebecca stared down to him as she blinked, "Wow, you're good. No wonder your name is plastered on the front gate"

"Well, it is my home so I figured that's the reason why I should name the school after me" Charles smiled.

Rebecca smiled back and glanced down, "So am I going to finally get that tour you've been talking about?"

Charles chuckled, "You definitely will"

"I'll place your bags into your room" Hank informed.

"Thank you, Hank" Charles nodded as he wheeled off towards the left as Rebecca followed.

"So what is my teaching class going to be?" Rebecca asked, "You never mentioned what position you had for me. You just keep saying that it will be something I won't turn down"

Charles smiled, "I figured you'd do great as a home economics teacher considering how you tend to your household and actually enjoy it. The mansion is getting more and more full with more job than a simple cook can handle. So I figured to open up a home economics class with someone who is both patient and persistent on teaching children a few cooking classes along with helping them branch out and live on their own once the time comes, what do you think?"

Rebecca smiled, "I think I might have my hands full for a couple of weeks"

Charles looked over his shoulder, "But you'll accept?"

"I believe this will be in my comfort zone" Rebecca admitted, "Nothing I can't handle"

"Good because when I asked around about a home economics class, you're schedule got filled up within 10 minutes" Charles informed her.

Rebecca stopped and looked at the back of Charles' wavy hair, "What?!"

"Did I mention that today is the first day of school?" Charles smiled as he opened a door.

Before she could answer, the doors opened to the kitchen where students were all over the place in aprons with food in front of them. They all stopped and turned to look at Rebecca, making her take a step back before noticing their faces were filled with excited and eager smiles on their first day. She glanced down to Charles who smiled and nodded over to the room before Rebecca took her first steps into her classroom.

* * *

Rebecca walked around the room as she peered over her students shoulders as they busily worked on their dishes for dinner. She noticed one of her students was struggling as she carefully leaned forward with her elbows on the table and looked over to the girl.

Emma, the student, only glanced at her briefly before continuing on cutting her potatoes.

She mumbled, "It's taking forever"

Rebecca didn't say anything but picked up a knife and a potato from the child's basket as she too started to cut. Emma glanced over and noticed how fast her teacher was cutting before she realized that she had been cutting all wrong. She was using the smaller knife for the first half of the batch and now her arm was sore. Emma quickly picked up her larger knife similar to Rebecca's before she stopped and quickly sharpened her blade. The second she cut into her next potato, she realized how easy it was, before long, she wasn't even looking at her teacher anymore for guidance as her basket was becoming less and less empty.

Rebecca smiled brighter as she set aside her pile into Emma's bowl, wiped her knife, and patted the student on her shoulder. She walked around as she took notice in Nina, her other student as she struggled to pierce her potato in the boiling pot meant for her. Instead of last week, where she had a little fit, Nina simply set her timer for a longer set of time before turning back to her other food to work on. She glanced up just in time to see Rebecca watching her before her teacher smiled and nodded in approval.

"Good timing in taking out your broccoli, Lucy, just make sure to stir them over onto the other side before you place it back in with the cod" Rebecca reminded a student.

Lucy nodded eagerly as she placed her broccoli down at her station and did what Rebecca had told her to do. Next to her, Toby was busily working on his panko mix as he glanced nervously to his timer. He mumbled something to himself as he started to stir more but also spilled some of his panko mixture over in the process.

Rebecca placed a hand on his arm, "Don't feel so rushed about the time, Toby, if your broccoli is done before you place the mixture over your fish than just let it sit out for a moment for you to catch up. Don't let time define where you should be in your cooking process"

"Okay, Miss Luesby"

"We still have plenty of time" Rebecca glanced up to the clock.

"How can we tell if the cod fish is done?"

"There are two ways" Rebecca answered, "Can anyone tell me?"

"One way is that the fish resists breaking if it's not cooked all the way" a student spoke up.

Rebecca nodded and pointed to him, "Good, and the other way? It doesn't deal with touch or smell but the color. Keep in mind that cod is translucent when undone but white when ready"

"My!" a voice said from behind her, "It smells good in here, well done, children"

Rebecca turned around to see Charles in the doorway smiling at everyone, "You know, if you keep making such excellent food like this then I just might close down the school and open up a restaurant"

A chorus of laughter filled the kitchen as Rebecca made her way over to the Headmaster, "They are a bright bunch. In just three weeks of teaching them the basics, they're already making food for the whole school"

Rebecca turned back to her students and smiled proudly at them wandering around her kitchen. She found it comforting to know that some of these children had a natural knack for this and some were struggling, it meant that she found different ways to help them all out.

"You are a miracle worker"

"All I needed was a push out of my door"

"And I'm glad I did it"

"I'm glad you did too" Rebecca said before she stopped herself, "I probably would be still be looking for work as of now. Thank you"

Charles chuckled, "And as I keep telling you; you don't have to thank me every time. Just mind the food intake will you, soon I will be barely able to fit in my chair"

"I will try" Rebecca stated, "Dinner will be ready in 35 minutes"

"I will be counting down until then"

Rebecca giggled as she walked off into her kitchen before looking back at Charles wheeling out of her classroom.

She felt a faint blush rise on her cheeks as she quickly walked over to the sink and hurriedly started to wash the dishes. Rebecca knew it was a chore meant for her students but she had to keep her face hidden for a while so no one could see her blush. It wasn't long before she came to Xavier's School that she started to develop feelings toward Charles. He was just so nice, well-rounded, and not that bad on the eyes. Plus, the more he talked with his English accent, the more she fell in love with it.

"Miss Luesby, can I ask for help over here?" Emma called out to her.

Rebecca quickly stopped washing dishes and went over to her student. She rubbed her lips together before feeling someone watching her. Rebecca glanced up and wasn't surprised to see Chase sitting on one of the tall open windows above the kitchen. He gave her a slight wink in a teasing way as she glared at the cat.

Of course, out of everyone who knew about her hidden feelings for the Professor, it had to be her cat. Chase would try to make things amusing to him but lately has stopped and watched the awkward action take hold. He didn't need to do much to make Rebecca into an internal laughing stalk, she did it all on her own.

Rebecca cleared her throat as she glanced down and helped her student with what she needed. Trying her best not to look up at her cat spying on her class.

Still, she couldn't help but feel the faint blush still clear on her cheeks as she worked around the room and helped her class finish with their first meal.

Later that night, the crowd cheered from the mess hall as her class and even Rebecca walked out with the meals in hand. They each evenly placed the food out on the tables as the other students waited hungrily for their meal. Rebecca placed down the food at the staff's table and quickly sat down. She turned back around and watched as the student's who weren't in her class took their first bite. Nearly all of them showed their appreciation on their face as they turned to their friend and congratulated them on making such a meal.

Rebecca couldn't help but smile as the students in her class seemed to have a wider smile from hearing this from their friends. Some were even explaining about what they did in the kitchen to make such a meal. Her eyes drifted toward Emma, who struggled throughout the whole class and asked for help with each step of the way, as everyone at her table complimented on her food. Emma turned and looked to Rebecca who only smiled and winked at her before turning to her fellow co-workers.

Charles, Hank, and the other teachers all ate and exchanged looks on their faces. Cassidy looked up and tried to steal food from Alex's plate before the blonde swatted him away. Jacqueline reached out and complimented on the food as the others quickly voiced in their agreements.

"Nothing is better than those homemade brownies at your house" Charles winked to her.

Rebecca giggled as Hank went into a story about recruiting Rebecca and her garden along with her brownies. As everyone listened in, she stole a glance over to Charles who laughed and chimed in with his little details of his own of his first day of meeting Rebecca.


	4. Dark Times

"What the hell?!" Cassidy yelled out as he got up from his seat, "The government ignores us for nearly 10 years and now this? They can't do that, Charles!"

"Apparently, they can if we're US citizens" Charles sighed.

Alex chimed in, "So they can just send us a packet of mail telling us to pack up and get ready for war?"

Jacqueline shook her head, "The humans already hate us enough, now they want our students to bunk with them? They will be fighting with each other rather than the enemy"

"They're already running out of humans to draft and now they want our own" Rebecca sighed.

"We have to turn ourselves over or else we'll be known as fugitives of the law and they'll shut us down permanently" Hank informed everyone.

Jane straightened up, "What's going to happen to the school?"

"We will have to preserve" Charles said in a low voice, "Go on for as long as we can in this school until it's financially impossible. Hopefully, it won't come down to that and everyone will be back in no time. Hank and I physically can't due to my paralyzation and his health issues on file. I am trusting that the two of you will help look after the children"

"Us?" Alex asked as he gestured to both Cassidy and himself.

Rebecca stood up from her spot and walked over to the window as she gazed out to everyone. They had faculty meetings once a month so this didn't seem to worry the children running, playing sports, and sitting out and enjoying the sun. Charles had said that he was going to announce this to everyone at dinner tonight. This made her heart sink as she had told one of her students that they were safe within these walls. Now it felt like a big fat lie on her part as she could now imagine what their faces would look like from hearing the news that more than half of their students were going to Vietnam soon.

She turned back around and faced the rest of the staff who were talking amongst each other about what to do. A lump rose in her throat as just two months ago, she had called this place her home. Now she was watching it being destroyed over some silly war and she couldn't do anything to stop it. Rebecca folded her arms over her chest and blinked back the tears to stop herself from crying in front of everyone.

Charles glanced to both Jacqueline and Rebecca, "You both are women and won't be called up unless you willingly draft yourselves. The choice is yours once the school isn't able to become operable. I advise that the both of you go back home to enjoy this time with your own family"

"No… I'm staying here" Rebecca said from her corner.

The words had come out before she could even think about them and actually surprised herself. She always loved going back home on vacation but this time, it meant that if she was going back home, she didn't know when she was coming back. She glanced to Charles who stared at her, knowing she loved home more than anything before Rebecca walked across the room and left the office to go to her garden to think.

* * *

"It's been a year, Rebecca" Hank said from behind her.

"I know" Rebecca pulled out some vegatables and placed it in the basket.

"You should be with your family, not us. I can take care of him, you know that" Hank urged.

Rebecca glanced up, "Yeah, I can see that. With Charles taking the serum when he even _feels_ like his telepathy is coming back"

"Have you tried stopping him lately?" Hank countered.

Rebecca sighed as she leaned back onto her heels and looked up to him, "Everyone else could've but us. I'm sorry, Hank, that was uncalled for"

"It's alright, I've been in the same position as you" Hank sat down on the stone bench next to her, "Falling for someone who doesn't realize you have feelings for them"

Rebecca glanced back down to her flowers, "How did you know?"

Hank scoffed, "It's not that hard to see when a homebody refuses to go home. Just not clear enough for Charles"

"He's got other things on his mind" Rebecca mused, "Problem is, it's only his mind that's corrupting him right now"

Hank sighed, "I just wish there was other things we could do for him"

"We can't" Rebecca sighed.

Hank shifted in his seat, "On second thought, I actually like having you around"

"And why is that?" Rebecca asked, "Because I'm the only person here that's not high or drunk all the time?"

Even though it was a serious manner, Hank let out a chuckle as Rebecca got up and picked up a basket as Hank picked up two. Together, the two former teachers walked out of her garden and across the empty field. She still found it difficult to notice how quiet the mansion was without the students wandering about. Rebecca glanced up to Charles' window and wasn't surprised to see the curtains were still drawn closed. She wished that some days he would come out and enjoy the sun and company of the other two living inside of the house but lately, he only came down to eat or get more drinks.

Hank walked into the kitchen first, "At least you cook better food than I do"

"Without me, my garden would rot, you would eat TV food dinners, and gotten seriously unhealthy" Rebecca chimed in, "So who put you up to begging me to come home if you just gave up so easily"

Hank didn't even act surprised as he leaned on the counter, "Your dad. He just said that you're going to miss your brothers birthday soon and would like to see you with the family for a while"

"Then you should've told him that I lost my job position and not my calendar if he thinks he can use my brother's birthday which is in April to get me to come home" Rebecca chuckled.

"Is that why you don't answer the phone?" Hank asked.

Rebecca sighed, "I have to hear that conversation every time, the only normal one is my little brother"

Hank huffed, "Don't be surprised if they start using him to convince you to come back home"

Rebecca heard shuffling feet before she looked up and a second later, Charles walked into the kitchen as he rubbed his hands over his face. He grunted at the afternoon light and turned away as he walked closer to Hank and Rebecca. She turned and took a glance over to her friend who shared the same concern on his face as Charles leaned too hard onto the island. Charles plopped himself onto the chair in front of them as he groaned and rubbed his eyes some more before squinting up at the pair.

Rebecca walked over to the counter along the wall and picked up a plate that she made as she walked over and set it in front of Charles. He then gave a lazy smile as he picked up the fork and gazed down to the new breakfast. She had made Breakfast Chorizo Egg Polenta Pancakes, knowing he would need that after he woke up.

She gave a sideways glance to Hank who seemed almost amused with himself as he waited alongside with her. Charles broke into his food and took a mouthful before he could test it out.

A second later, his face changed as he coughed but forced himself to swallow down the food he just ate.

Rebecca straightened herself up as she continued to take stock of her food and store them properly. Charles glanced over to her and wondered if she realized there was something different with his food. He looked up to Hank who seemed to be mesmerized with an onion he had just picked up. He glanced back down to his meal in front of him as he wondered what he did to deserve this. He picked at the food before he looked up to Rebecca walking back to her pile.

He opened his mouth to tell her about his food but before he could say anything, Chase walked in and jumped up onto the counter. Rebecca turned to him as if he had called to her before she started to have a one-sided conversation with the feline. She then scoffed and pet his head for a couple of seconds before she took out food for the cat. He watched as Chase devoured his own food before Rebecca turned back and noticed that Charles had only took one bite.

"The food is cold!" Charles blurted out.

"It would've been warm if you were here in the morning" Rebecca told him.

Charles' eyebrows furrowed before he glanced over to the clock as it read 1:40 in the afternoon.

Charles groaned as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Oh, bloody hell"

"You usually make an effort to come down for breakfast" Rebecca told him.

"I know" Charles sighed, "I was just up really late last night, I'm sorry"

Rebecca shook her head, "Don't apologize, just eat the food"

Charles grimaced again, "You can't be serious"

"Are you calling my food disgusting?" Rebecca challenged, "Even if it's cold?"

Charles hesitated before he answered as he gave a cautious look down to his plate before glancing up to Rebecca. She leaned back onto her heels and nodded down to the plate. He glanced off cautiously over to the microwave oven before looking back to Rebecca. She glared at him for even looking in that direction, he knew fully well that she hated heating up food, especially when this was meant to be a lesson for him. Charles cleared his throat and leaned into the table as he picked up his fork again.

Hank smiled, "Think about it for next time. You missed a great meal when she made it nice and hot"

"Oh, shut up, Hank" Charles said with his mouthful of cold food.

"Next time I will give you what Chase eats" Rebecca said as she nodded over to the cat.

"At least he's enjoying it" Charles was about to take another bite when his plate disappeared from beneath him, "Oh come on, I was actually eating that"

Rebecca continued to walk over to the trash, "And because of your comment, you will either wait until dinner or make yourself lunch"

"Bloody hell" Charles groaned as Rebecca and Hank shared a smirk as Charles laid his head on the cool steel table.


	5. Mysterious Stranger

"Here you go" Rebecca said as she walked into Charles' room.

"Brownies, for what?" Charles asked as he straightened up in his chair.

Rebecca set down the tray on the nightstand next to him, "Just to show some appreciation. You let me live here with no rent so I thought to bring your favorite snack"

"I see" Charles smiled, "You're feeling guilty about not letting me eat that cold breakfast a couple of days ago"

"I didn't really say that" Rebecca scooted the tray closer to him, "But I am sorry. Should've just let you finish the food"

Charles chuckled, "No, your message was pretty clear after that. I have never missed a breakfast yet and it's the best decision of my life. Thank you"

"Anytime" Rebecca smiled back.

Charles leaned over and picked up a brownie and took a bite into her desert. He made a moan as he smiled, staring at the brownie like it was a long lost friend. He then turned to Rebecca and gestured between the brownies and her. She then shrugged and picked one off of the plate and took a bite of her own. As she expected, it was firm on the outside but warm and doughy on the inside.

"Sit down, will you?"

Rebecca plopped down onto his unmade bed, "Didn't I tell you to clean this room yesterday?"

"Yes, but I forgot" Charles looked to her, "With catching up with my shows and what not"

"Like what?"

"What?"

"What shows do you like to watch"

"Oh, well, um… Bewitched" Charles stammered, "I didn't tell you because I knew it was a girls show. It was really good but I hate how they make her powers so plain. No one can do as much as she does even as a witch"

"You know I can tell you're lying, right"

"How?" Charles challenged her.

Rebecca let it out, "Because Bewitched ended last year. They haven't even replayed her episodes since then"

Charles opened his mouth as if to say something but then stopped as it turned into a look of surprise. He gave Rebecca a look as she only gave off a simple nod towards him. She knew she should be angry with him but she couldn't help but giggle at his surprised face. Rebecca picked up her brownie and took another bite.

Charles got up and walked over to the TV where he had the directory. He flipped the pages before he turned the cover and read that he had last year's book. He then turned around and looked to Rebecca who couldn't stop smiling at him.

"How did it end?!" Charles asked.

Rebecca just gave a simple shrug as she glanced down to her last piece of brownie. Her body leaned down slightly as she glanced over and noticed Charles was sitting so close that their hips were touching.

"Tell me everything" Charles said in a low tone.

Rebecca stammered and quickly looked away and down to her knees as if she had a book on her lap.

It was moments like these that she felt like things would become back to normal. When Charles was acting like himself and not drunk out of his mind. Her eyes slipped down to the glass of whiskey next to the brownie in his hands. She wondered if he would ever be able to snap out of his daze of drinking and drugs and try to open up the school again. She knew it was something that he's wanted to do but is afraid to do it.

"What?" Charles asked with a laugh in his voice.

Rebecca quickly shook her head as she tried to dismiss both her feelings and her dreams. Of course, in her mind this would be the most ideal time for him to tell her what she's been hoping to hear for a while now. But the more she thought about it, the more she felt it would never happen. That she should just be content with being his friend and nothing more.

She cleared her throat as she straightened up, thinking back to the finale of Bewitched. Rebecca glanced over to him and noticed that it was a big mistake. The sunlight was hitting his waves of chin length hair, making them brighter than they usually are along with his clear blue eyes staring into her dull brown ones.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a big thud from down the hall as Rebecca heard a roar. The pair both turned towards the open door as if to see Hank explain what was all of the noise about.

That was before they heard an unusual scream that made Rebecca shoot up from the bed.

"Was that Hank?" Rebecca asked.

Charles shook his head, "Not Hank, Beast. Someone else is here"

Charles and Rebecca both looked to each other before they walked out of the bedroom together and down the hall. She peered over to the top of the stairs to see Hank was on the chandelier over some man on the front table.

"Hank?" Charles called out, "What's going on here?"

The man looked at Charles as he walked down the stairs with Rebecca following him, "Professor?"

"Please don't call me that" Charles told the stranger.

"Why? You know this guy?" Hank questioned.

"Yeah, he looks slightly familiar" Charles said as he waved off Hank, "Get off the bloody chandelier, Hank"

Hank, in his beast form, gave him only a look before he jumped off and landed on the floor next to him. The man only looked dazed as if he was seeing something that he never would have been able to see before. Rebecca looked closer at the man as she wondered why this man had called him professor. No one has ever called him that ever since the school was shut down.

The man said, "You can walk"

"You're a perceptive one" Charles responded.

"I thought Erik-" "Which makes it slightly perplexing that you missed our sign on the way in" Charles sat down on the stairs, "This is private property, my friend. I'm gonna have to ask them to ask you to leave"

Charles said as he waved to both Hank and herself as the man got up from the table, "Well. I'm afraid I can't do that because I was sent here for you"

"Well, tell whoever it was that sent you that I'm busy" Charles lied.

The man chuckled as he said, "That's gonna be a little tricky because the person who sent me was you"

"What?" Charles asked as Rebecca walked down the steps to stand directly above the step Charles was sitting on.

"About 50 years from now" the man continued.

"Like in the future, 50 years from now?" Charles asked as if it was a joke.

"Yeah" the man said.

"Charles sent you from the future?" Rebecca questioned as if him saying a second time around would make sense.

"Yeah"

"Piss off" Charles told him.

"If you had your powers, you'd know I was telling the truth" the man said that seemed to surprise everyone.

"How do you know I don't have my p-" Charles was about to say before Rebecca stepped in, "Who are you?"

"I told you"

Rebecca continued, "Are you CIA?"

"No" he objected.

"You've been watching me?" Charles asked.

"I know you, Charles" the man continued, "We've been friends for years. I know your powers came when you were 9. I know you thought you were going crazy when it started all the voices in your head. And it wasn't until you were 12 that you realized all the voices were in everyone else's head. Do you want me to go on?"

Charles leaned back into Rebecca's legs and when he felt them behind her, it seemed that he leaned in more for her support as he said, "I never told anyone that"

The man countered, "Not yet, no, but, you will"

Charles then said, "All right, you've piqued my interest. What do you want?"

"We have to stop Raven" the man said as Rebecca instinctively looked over to Hank who seemed surprised at the mention of her name, "I need your help. We need your help"

From below her, Rebecca could feel Charles trembling as he whispered, "I think I'd like to wake up now"

Rebecca leaned down to touch Charles but just when she was about to, he got up and walked over to his office. She had only heard about Raven a couple of times but her decision to leave had taken a toll on both Charles and Hank in numerous ways. Her eyes went up to Hank who slowly started to turn back to his normal self as he looked over to the mysterious stranger.

"What does she have to do with this?" Hank asked with both concern and heartbreak in his voice.


	6. Logan

Charles repeated, "So you're saying they took Raven's power, and what? They weaponized it?"

"Yep" The stranger, which Rebecca now knew was named Logan, nodded.

"She is unique" Hank shrugged.

Charles looked to him for a long moment before he said, "Yeah, she is, Hank"

Logan continued, "In the beginning, the Sentinels were just targeting mutants. Then they began to identify the genetics in non-mutants who would eventually have mutant children and grandchildren. Many of the humans tried to help us, but it was a slaughter. Leaving only the worst of humanity in charge. I've been in a lot of wars. I'd never seen anything like this. And it all starts with her"

"Let's just say for the sake of…" Charles rubbed his eye as he got comfortable on the couch, "the sake, that I choose to believe you that I choose to help you. Raven won't listen to me"

Rebecca fidgeted quietly at the window before glancing over to Hank whom she caught casting his eyes to the ground. She glanced to her left to see Chase sitting next to her, intrigued about the conversation and mirrored the same look that she felt she was displaying. She couldn't possibly imagine anything like this getting out of control just for the sake of wiping out mutants. She knew that humans hated them but she never thought they would go as low as taking an actual mutant's powers to make a new weapon of their own. Rebecca felt a nudge and looked down as Chase leaned into her, almost sharing a rare moment of comfort for her.

"Her heart and soul belong to someone else now" Charles told Logan.

"I know" Logan got up and faced Charles, "That's why we're going to need Magneto, too"

Rebecca shot her eyes up and looked at the man surprised, "Erik?"

Charles let out a laugh as if it was the funniest thing he has ever heard. She never met Magneto but has known about him for so long to absorb the same grudge as both Hank and Charles do. Still, that wasn't what made her heart drop to the floor, it was the fact that this person didn't know where Erik was. If they were going to save the future then by getting help from Erik will make them wanted fugitives of their present.

Rebecca tried, "You do know where he is?"

Logan looked to her and nodded, "Yeah"

Charles continued to laugh as he got up and started to walk out of the room. She glanced over to Chase who if cats could roll their eyes, did the expression of it. Chase chose to stay in the mansion with Rebecca but hated how Charles acts now and she was sure that his newfound humor was driving the cat insane.

"He's where he belongs" Charles said in a dark tone.

"You're just gonna walk out?" Logan asked.

"Ooh, top marks. Like I said, you are perceptive" Charles glanced back over his shoulder.

Logan turned and faced him, "The Professor I know would never turn his back on someone who'd lost their path. Especially someone he loved"

"You know…" Charles went back into the study as he pointed his finger at Logan, "I think I do remember you now. Yeah. We came to you a long time ago seeking your help. And I'm going to say to you what you said to us then. Fuck off"

Logan quickly grabbed onto Charles making both Hank and Rebecca get up but Chase spoke to her, "Don't… he needs this"

Rebecca turned to the cat before she slowly sighed and turned back to Logan and Charles, "Listen to me, you little shit. I've come a long way, and I've watched a lot of people die. Good people. Friends. If you're gonna wallow in self-pity and do nothing, then you're gonna watch the same thing, you understand?"

Logan released him and just as Rebecca thought Charles would accept, he waved out his arms and said, "We all have to die sometime"

Everyone watched as Charles left the room before Chase turned to Rebecca, "You angry?"

"Yes" Rebecca told her cat, "I don't see why he wouldn't just help"

Hank turned to Rebecca, "You're right. I think you should try and convince him. He'll listen to you and I can't say much because he'll think I'm doing this for Raven"

"I would appreciate it" Logan turned to Rebecca, "Times running out where I'm from. The more I stay here, the more my friends are in jeopardy for being caught by the sentinels. I know that if there's anyone who could convince Charles of something, it would be you. Even in my own time"

"I'll try" Rebecca stammered as she tried her best not to ask what he meant.

Chase called after her, "Get angry, think about all the kids here who don't have a future in his world"

The last thing that Chase said seemed to motivate Rebecca even more as she quickly walked into Charles' room. She saw him in his worst as the empty syringe was in his hand and his arm was already wrapped up.

"Could you believe that bloke?" Charles asked her.

Rebecca placed her hands on her hips, "Actually, I do. You really should do this, if not for the future mutant children but also for Raven now"

"I already told Logan, she's not going to listen to me" Charles huffed.

"It doesn't mean that you can't try" Rebecca leaned forward and placed her hands on the armrest of his chair, cracking under her strength and not even caring that her face was inches from his as she threatened, "I swear to you, Charles, if you do not help this man out I will break every Goddamn bottle of that fucking serum! I will leave this school with Hank and his equipment for your drugs and you will be left all alone. Is that really what you want? You already blocked off your powers, don't block off your friends as well. I'm going to help him… what will you do?"


	7. Peter

"I'll help you get her" Charles announced, "Not for any of your future shite, but for her"

Rebecca rolled her eyes from behind him as Logan said, "Fair enough"

Charles sighed as he said, "But I'll tell you this. You don't know Erik. That man is a monster. A murderer. You think you can convince Raven to change? To come home? That's splendid. But what makes you think you can change him?"

Logan answered without a second heartbeat, "Because you and Erik sent me back here together"

Hank informed Logan as he brought out a blueprint of the Pentagon, "The room they're holding him in was built during the Second World War when there was a shortage of steel. So the foundation is pure concrete and sand. No metal"

Charles leaned over the table, "He's being held a hundred floors beneath the most heavily guarded building on the planet"

"Why is he in there?" Logan asked.

"What, he forgot to mention?" Charles questioned.

The look on Logan's face said it all as Charles started to let out yet another snicker. Even Rebecca had to shake her head and scoff at the man's clueless face. She folded her arms over her chest and looked over to Hank who side nodded to Logan. Rebecca gave a slight glare, telling her friend that she didn't want to be the one to mention about Erik. Even though they were supposed to be allies, she didn't want to say his name anymore than she already did.

Hank glanced over to Logan, "Uh, JFK"

Logan's eyes widened as he said, "He killed-"

This made Charles laugh even louder as all of this was humorous to him. Rebecca glanced back down to the map as her eyes pinpointed to where the man was being held. She remembered watching the parade on the news, seeing the shot that made her scream out in her home as her mother tried to cover her eyes. But it was too late, the moment and the vision of her own President being shot was forever seared into her mind.

"What else explains a bullet miraculously curving through the air?" Charles asked, "Erik's always had a way with guns. Are you sure you want to carry on with this?"

"This is your plan, not mine" Logan waved out his hands.

Hank spoke up, "We don't have any resources to get us in"

"Or out" Charles put in, "It's just me, Rebecca, Hank… and the bloody cat"

"I'm going to pee on his bed tonight" Chase mumbled as Rebecca tried to hide her smile.

Logan thought for a moment before he said, "I knew a guy. Yeah, he'd be a young man now. Grew up outside of DC. He could get into anywhere. I just don't know how the hell we're gonna find him"

"Is Cerebro out of the question?" Hank asked as Charles shifted his eyes to Rebecca before dropping them to the ground, "We have a phonebook"

"I'll go and get it" Charles quickly got up, "All of you chat about the future and stuff. Maybe even ask if you won the lottery"

Rebecca watched as Charles left the room before she said, "Sorry, I had to threaten him to help you"

Hank gave a shrug of a side nod before glancing over to where Charles was in his office. He seemed to be struggling so Hank excused himself before going over to help Charles. She wished that she saw Charles needed help, being alone with this Logan man didn't make her feel the most comfortable.

The truth was, she did want to ask this man about her future and not if she survived the Sentinels attack but what was her life like. Almost as if reading her thoughts, he glanced over and gave a small smile to her.

Rebecca gave back a smile almost too shy to look at him as both Hank and Charles came back into the room.

"Here you go" Hank handed him the book.

"Thanks" Logan bent over and started flipping through the pages.

Rebecca cleared her throat, "What makes you think that this man will help? We didn't believe you in the first place"

Logan smirked, "This kid is always up for a challenge"

"What's his name?" Hank asked.

"Peter Maximoff. And this is his mother's name and I'm going to assume, his address" Logan chuckled before glancing over to all of them, "Trust me when he comes around, he will give you the shock of your lives"

Logan walked off over to the car as the trio just shared a look before Rebecca asked, "What does he mean by that?"

* * *

Rebecca pointed to the right, "Here, here, here"

"Where?"

"Just stop here" Rebecca commanded as Charles pressed on the brakes roughly.

"All right, all right"

"Next time I'm driving. Don't get used to it" Logan told Charles.

Rebecca shimmied herself out of the car and glanced up to the house. The place looked nice and was outside of a park. She glanced over to the other two as she couldn't help but feel like there was nostalgia coursing through their veins. They walked up to the door as Logan glanced around the front yard. She wondered why he kept on looking around before he started to knock on the door.

A woman came over and peered out of the window but didn't seem too surprised that they were all there. She opened the door and let out a sigh as she glanced around from person to person. Rebecca tried her best to give her the best warming smile that she could when Miss Maximoff glanced over to her but it didn't seem to work. She dropped down her shoulders as if in some kind of defeat.

She began, "What's he done now? I will just write you a check for whatever he took"

Logan waved her off, "We just need to talk to him"

"Peter! The cops are here. Again" Miss Maximoff yelled out as she let the group in.

Miss Maximoff pointed towards an open door where they could hear rock music playing in the basement. Rebecca walked down the stairs before she let out a gasp as she glanced from each side of the ping-pong table. One second, the man was hitting the ball across the table, the next he was on the other side.

Rebecca glanced up to Hank who shared the same expression as her before they all glanced to Charles. He, on the other hand, was still trying to get used to the lighting of the room.

"What do you guys want?" Peter asked, "I didn't do anything. I've been here all day"

The voice came from behind her as she turned and noticed the boy was laying around on the couch, "Just relax, Peter. We're not cops"

Peter didn't seem surprised, "Of course you're not. If you were, you wouldn't be driving a rental car"

"How'd you know we've got a rental car?" Charles asked.

"I checked your registration when you were walking to the door" Peter talked rapidly, "I also had some time to kill so I went through your rental agreement. Saw you were from out of town. Are you FBI?"

Suddenly his voice came from behind them as he looked through Charles' wallet, "No, you're not cops. Hey, what's with this gifted youngsters place?"

"That's an old card" Charles let out as he grabbed his stuff from the ping-pong table where it fell.

Rebecca smiled, "He's fascinating"

Charles turned to her, "He's a pain in the arse"

"What, a teleporter?" Hank turned to Logan.

"No, he's just fast" Logan told him, "And when I knew him he wasn't so… young"

Peter's voice was back on the couch as she turned and glanced to him, "Young? You're just old"

Hank spoke up, "So you're not afraid to show your powers?"

"What powers? What are you talking about?" Peter asked making the group glance to one another, "Do you see something strange here? Nothing anybody would believe if you told them"

Rebecca opened up her mouth to speak but felt wind past by her before hearing the arcade machine behind her pinging where the young teenage boy was.

Peter asked, "So, who are you? What do you want?"

"We need your help, Peter" Rebecca took a step toward him.

"For what?"

"To break into a highly secured facility and to get someone out" Logan informed him.

Peter responded, "Prison break? That's illegal, you know"

Rebecca glanced around the room at the stolen signs before Logan said, "Um… well, only if you get caught"

"So what's in it for me?" Peter asked.

"You, you kleptomaniac, get to break into the Pentagon" Charles mumbled as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Peter straightened up and turned around to face the group before he said, "How do I know I can trust you?"

Logan answered, "Because we're just like you"

"Show him" Charles spoke to Logan and Rebecca.

Logan lifted up his fist and breathed in deeply as his claws started to come out of his skin. Rebecca took a couple of steps back and glanced over to the couch. She then slowly bent down and picked up the couch in the middle and lifted it up without straining. She glanced back over to Peter to see if he was watching as he glanced from both Logan and back to her. Rebecca held the couch for a while longer before she set it back down gently to the ground.

"That's cool, but it's disgusting" Peter told Logan.


	8. Getting Erik

Rebecca tapped her high heels impatiently as the group waited outside with the rest of the tour for their 12:45 guide. Her heartbeat seemed to drum louder than usual as she couldn't find a comfortable place to sit or stand. She almost felt like nearly everyone in the courtyard was looking at her, knowing what they were planning on doing.

She cleared her throat and glanced down to the ground, trying to find the weed sticking between the cement cracks interesting. But she immediately got bored and glanced up to the sky and started to count the clouds overhead.

"Will you relax, already? You're making me nervous" Peter said from beside her.

"I've never done this sort of thing before" Rebecca mumbled.

Peter only glanced over to Rebecca, almost surprised that she even said such a thing like that. After a while, he just shook his head and chuckled as he bounced up and down. She glanced over to the teenage boy and noticed how excited he seemed to be. It was almost like he was a kid waiting for the doors of Disneyland to open.

Logan turned to her, "You don't have to come with us if you want. You can just stay with Hank and meet up with us after all of this"

Rebecca glanced over to Logan before looking around the group. She took her last look at Hank before his expression seemed to tell her everything.

Rebecca shifted her weight on her black heels, "I'm staying with both you and Charles"

"Don't worry so much, Rebecca. I'm the one doing the hard work" Peter said a little bit too loudly.

"Will you shut up?" Charles let out.

Peter glanced over to Charles, "Just trying to give her a little self reassurance"

Rebecca let out a breath that she thought she was holding in since they pulled into the parking lot, "Seems to be working"

"See!" Peter turned to Charles.

"The more people we meet the more I wish I didn't" Charles muttered.

The tour guide walked out in a very model movement of the hips and fake smile on the lips.

Peter suddenly seemed intrigued by the woman and smiled brighter as if she was his date. In fact, when she looked around at everyone in her group, she couldn't help but noticed how they all seemed to enjoy staring at her. Rebecca made a face and rolled her eyes as she looked over to the tour guide and took in her physique. She glanced down to her work outfit hiding under her black business jacket. Rebecca sucked in her breath and placed the button on the farthest clasp before barely letting out a breath to breathe out.

She pressed her hand over her stomach as she felt her sides cramping from how small her jacket seemed to be. Rebecca glanced back to the woman and wondered if she was wearing some sort of corset underneath her clothes and if she was just as uncomfortable as her. Charles looked around at everyone before his eyes set on Rebecca as she covered her stomach and felt like her head was floating up to the sky. He slowly made his way to the back of the group so that no one would think it was odd of Charles to come to her.

Charles placed a hand on her arm, "It's alright to be terrified. But you must remain calm in these types of situations. Honestly, if you think too much about the task at hand, you'll probably faint. Just stay with Hank until all of this is over. I will be fine with Logan, I just want you to feel as relaxed as possible. No one would think lesser of you for staying behind. Trust me"

"I told you already, I'm staying with you" Rebecca said firmly.

Charles sighed as he looked at her, "Okay, then. I won't question you about it anymore. But if you want to move fast with us then I suggest you unbutton your jacket, you almost look like you can't breathe in there"

"Thanks" Rebecca said as she immediately unbuttoned her jacket and let out a nice and refreshing sigh of relief.

"Anytime" Charles told her, "You don't have to blend in so much just to get inside"

Rebecca nodded, "Should've told me that before I buttoned my jacket. Would've saved me a few extra breaths"

The tourist guide, whom Rebecca already forgot the name of, waved them all inside as everyone started to follow her. Naturally, their group waited until they were the only ones not following the crowd before they all started to catch up. It must've been from nearly trying to suffocate herself but by the time they started moving, she didn't feel as nervous as before.

"Everyone knows the plan, right?" Logan muttered.

Hank nodded as he started the timer on his watch, "Yup"

Logan glanced around behind him one last time, his eyes resting on each of the members. When he looked to Rebecca, she felt like her eyes lingered on his a moment too long. She wanted to ask about her future and what he saw in her that seemed to hint something differently. She knew she wasn't the only one who wanted to know, she glanced over to Hank who was double checking his watch once more. Not only was it the wrong timing right now, but she was afraid of hearing that she didn't make it.

"The sooner we get this over with the better" Logan grumbled before turning back to follow the group.

"Built in 1943, the Pentagon is the world's largest office building housing more than 25,000 military employees stretched over six million square feet" the tourist began.

A little boy up front asked, "Where's the bathroom?"

"He always needs to pee!"

Everyone, even Rebecca found herself chuckling at the sister's response to her brother's plea. She noticed the first stairwell that they were supposed to take off in, making Rebecca's throat restrict up back into a knot. Charles gave Hank a pat on the back before moving his hand back towards Rebecca and taking hers firmly into his. Her gasp got caught in her throat as Charles led her down the stairs toward the lower floors with Logan in front of them. She glanced down to their hands clasped together as he guided her along with them to the kitchen sector.

When they got off the stairs and took a right, Charles glanced back over to Rebecca as she gave him her best smile and nod. It seemed to work because Charles gave her hand a comforting squeeze before letting it go. She found her hand still waved out in the motion, wishing Charles had taken her hand once more, but instead, she placed it inside of her jacket and hurried along. Rebecca glanced up to the cameras and suddenly realized that no one had come to obtain them yet, which was considered a good thing.

They turned another right where a smaller and narrower stairwell was, not for the tourist attraction she presumed.

Rebecca walked down the steps and straightened out her skirt. She knew that she was given the option to go with Hank but she refused to go. One half was because she didn't want to walk around with the group hearing about some history of the Pentagon while the other half wanted to stay with Charles incase this man wasn't all he appeared to be. His story of the future was very moving but she wouldn't be surprised if he came up with that just to free Erik. The man who not only killed the most lovable President but also rendered Charles paralyzed which was only the beginning of his spiraling downhill actions.

Once they got down to the lower floors, that was when they heard the chattering of other workers. She knew from the map that the kitchen was straight down the hall but the echoing made it sound closer than usual. Still the trio walked as if they always had worked down here.

Rebecca rubbed her lips together as Charles took a glance back over to Rebecca. She tried her best to stay calm but she's never done anything like this before.

It was almost like she was in some sort of book that she's always read, where the heroine was not afraid to break the rules.

But she was not like that at all, Rebecca was a homebody mutant. If anything, she would've much preferred to have stayed home with her cat and anxiously wait for her friends to return. She knew that this wasn't the first time Hank and Charles has done something like this but she couldn't help but feel scared. With each turn, she was expecting someone to come down the hall, flashing their IDs and telling them to come with them for interrogation. No, she wasn't like those main characters who would risk everything on the line and not give a damn about if they get caught or not.

She heard the raised voice give off some sort of yell, making Rebecca stop for a moment. Charles had glanced back again just in time before he walked over and urged the woman forward. It wasn't until after a second, she remembered that Hank had hacked into the Pentagon's system. It was him that set off the sprinklers to get everyone to clear out of the room.

Rebecca felt Charles rub her back as she took in a deep breath and continued going. Sometimes she wondered if he had his mind-reading abilities even when he's walking. She stole a look over to him before he gave her a reassuring wink before they turned the corner and into the kitchen.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is a Code Red situation" Charles announced, "We are evacuating the entire floor so that my associates and I can, uh, secure the prison"

One of the guards came up the the group as the sprinklers drenched her hair, "Who are you?"

"We're special operations, CB FB-CID" Charles said slowly making Logan and Rebecca exchange looks, "Perhaps you didn't hear me when I first spoke but it is imperative that you understand we're in a complete lockdown situation. We have to get you to the third floor-"

Logan rolled his eyes as he quickly punched the bigger guard and turned to the other one with a pan. Rebecca took a step back and she watched the man take out two guards with just himself.

Logan turned to Charles and asked, "Oh, I'm sorry. Were you finished?"

Rebecca held her laughter inside as Charles grumbled about having the situation under control as he fished for the key.


	9. Charles vs Erik

"I'm sorry, I'm just not very good with violence" Charles apologized as he unlocked the elevator.

The doors opened and Rebecca took one look inside and quickly tensed up. Peter was in there with a man duct-taped to the wall which she had no explanation for, and then there he was. Erik, standing in an off-white prison uniform looking around the kitchen. He had brown hair and blue eyes that could make him look pleasing to some women. Rebecca took a small step back making Charles turn around to see Erik standing in front of him.

"Charles?" Erik questioned.

Without even reacting, Charles threw a punch into Erik's jaw as the man collapsed down onto the floor. Rebecca jumped as she has never seen Charles react so violently until now. Logan took a step closer as he even wondered if he should be in between these two. If it were up to Rebecca, she would've let Charles punch him until he was a bloody pulp.

Charles groaned as he walked around and started to flex his fist. She made no movement toward him as Erik started to recover from the ground. He glanced up to Charles who hissed in pain but slowly started to recover.

"Good to see you too, old friend" Erik noted, "And walking"

"No thanks to you" Charles spat back.

Erik slowly got up from the ground and looked at him with confusion, "You're the last person in the world I expected to see today"

Charles stared him down, "Believe me, I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to. If we get you out of here, we do it my way. No killing"

"No helmet" Erik waved up to his head, "I couldn't disobey you even if I wanted"

Charles took a threatening step forward, "I'm never getting inside of that head again. I need your word, Erik"

"Nobody move!" someone yelled from behind Rebecca.

"Hold it right there!" another officer said as they started piling in from every door.

"Charles"

"Don't move" an officer ordered, "Hands up, or we will shoot!"

"Freeze them, Charles"

"I can't"

An officer by the door ordered, "Hands up!"

Rebecca waved up her hands to near her head and obeyed the officers when everything started to rumble. At first she thought they were experiencing their first earthquake when she noticed that everything metal was moving.

Charles turned to Erik, "No!"

Rebecca covered her head readying herself for the gunshots to go off.

When they did, she let out a scream and doubled down, expecting to feel pain. But when she didn't, she glanced up and noticed all the metal had stopped and clattered to the floor as the officer's fell to the ground. Rebecca slowly got up and looked over to Erik who seemed just as confused as they were. She looked around the room before she noticed Peter was on the other side of the kitchen, standing as if nothing big had happened. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief.

She took out her hair from the already drenched bun it was in and ran her hands through it. She glanced over to Charles who formed his jaw before marching away from Erik. When she noticed that Erik was about to look over to her, Rebecca turned away and followed Charles. She couldn't help but notice that she had a horrible feeling in her gut that taking Erik out of prison was the worst decision they had made today.

"Thanks a lot, Peter" Rebecca turned a smile toward the teenager as he nodded.

* * *

Once they were on the plane, it was only Logan, Erik, and Rebecca sitting inside while Hank and Charles talked to Peter. Erik reached out to take the newspaper when Logan took out his claws and stopped him from taking it, Erik walked away and said, "Imagine if they were metal"

"Where did they dig you up?" Erik asked Logan.

Logan leaned into his chair, "You're gonna find this hard to believe but, uh, you sent me. You and Charles. From the future"

"I don't believe we have met before either" Erik turned his attention towards Rebecca, "Are you from the future as well?"

Rebecca formed her jaw before she said, "No. I'm only here for Charles and Hank, nothing more"

"So which one is it?" Erik asked.

"What?"

"Who is it that caught your affections?" Erik had a twinkle in his eye before he said, "Or did you come to stare at the mutant they keep locked away"

Rebecca was about to respond when she felt a hand rest on her shoulder, she turned around to see Charles looking at her before glancing down to the seat next to Logan and the farthest one away from Erik. She quickly took the seat, rather wanting to sit next to the mutant from the future rather than the terrorist from the past. Charles walked down the plane with Hank before he sat the closest to Hank's cockpit but still able to keep eyes on Erik.

* * *

Rebecca glanced down to her watch as she noticed it had now been marked as 50 minutes since anyone in the small plane has spoken. She glanced up to Charles and took in how he never once let his eyes slide from Erik's body trespassing his private plane.

"How did you lose them?" Erik finally asked.

Charles answered without hesitation, "The treatment for my spine affects my DNA"

Erik looked over to Charles, "You sacrificed your powers so you could walk?"

"I sacrificed my powers so that I could sleep" Charles said, making Rebecca look over to him, "What do you know about it?"

"I've lost my fair share" Erik responded.

Charles replied sarcastically, "Ha. Dry your eyes, Erik. It doesn't justify what you have done"

Erik shook his head, "You have no idea what I've done"

"I know that you took the things that mean the most to me" Charles countered.

"Well, maybe you should have fought harder for them" Erik yelled out in a bold tone.

Charles quickly started to unbuckle his seatbelt as Erik got up from his seat, "If you want a fight, Erik I will give you a fight"

"Sit down" Logan commanded but Erik waved up his hand.

"Let him come" Erik said in a small voice that only Logan and Rebecca could hear.

"You abandoned me!" Charles ran over and grabbed onto Erik's shirt, "You took her away and you abandoned me!"

"Angel" Erik said simply, making Rebecca think that Erik didn't know what he was saying until he continued with his list, "Azazel. Emma. Banshee. Mutant brothers and sisters all dead!"

Rebecca let out a shriek as the plane began to moan and start leaning down out of altitude.

"Countless others experimented on" Erik continued, "Butchered!"

Hank called from the front as Rebecca tried her best to hold onto the desk for support, "Erik!"

"Where were you, Charles?" Erik yelled out, "We were supposed to protect them! Where were you when your own people needed you? Hiding! You and Hank! Pretending to be something you're not!"

Hank yelled louder this time, "Erik!"

The plane then started to calm down as Erik ended with, "You abandoned us all"

The plane leveled out as Erik let go of his control over it, making Rebecca sigh in relief. She turned and noticed that Logan had his arm waved out in case Rebecca were to fall, he would've caught her. Her heartbeat was hammering in her ears as she leaned her head back and took this time to calm down. The words echoed in her mind what Erik had said to Charles and almost felt guilty as well. Her hands started to shake but she knew it wasn't from the fear of the plane crashing into the water.

Hearing Cassidy's alias name made her remember getting the letter one morning and seeing that he didn't make it. Back then, they mentioned that he died in the field, never saying that Dr. Trask had taken him away and tortured him to death. She closed her eyes as a tear fell down her cheek for her lost friend. Rebecca wiped away the tear as Charles got up and sat in the cockpit with Hank to get away from Erik.

Logan sighed as he said, "So, you were always an asshole"

Rebecca turned to Logan as he scoffed and shook his head. She watched as the man who lost 100's of friends chuckled to himself while she was crying over one. She swallowed and slowly started to contain her composure as Erik turned around to look at Logan.

"I take it we're best buddies in the future" Erik told him.

Logan chuckled even more as he shook his head. He tossed his lighter on the table before he drew in a deep breath and let out a trail of smoke.

"I spent a lot of years trying to bring you down, bub" Logan confessed.

Erik questioned, "How does that work out for you?"

"You're like me" Logan commented, "You're a survivor"

Logan glanced around the plane before he said, "Do you wanna pick all that shit up?"


	10. Future Fate

_**A/N:**_ _Sorry everybody! The reason why it took forever to update a chapter was because I got seriously ill from seasonal allergies! Usually I can function but this year it actually made me literally bed-ridden all week and couldn't even look at screens without getting a headache! Hope everyone is doing well in this pollen season and make sure you all have up-to-date allergy medicine by your side! Also, thanks for being so patient with me :)_

Rebecca woke up from the plane shaking a little bit. She immediately picked up her head and glanced over to Erik who was sitting and reading a travel book with headphones in his ears. She calmed down a little bit when she realized that it was only turbulence that had woken her up and not Erik trying to take over the plane. She sighed and lifted up the shades to reveal only her reflection staring back at her. She must've slept through the evening sunset and now had nothing but darkness surrounding them.

Rebecca turned and heard small conversation in the cockpit as she realized that Charles was still inside but at least talking to Hank now. She glanced back over to Erik who didn't even seem to realize or care that she was staring at him. She couldn't help but wonder who she felt more pity for in their little argument they had a couple of hours ago. Charles claiming that Erik took away the two people that mattered most to him or Erik who had to watch countless people die because Charles didn't want to help anymore.

It seemed that only in her sleep that she was able to escape these sorts of feelings but now that she was awake, it seemed to work it's way back inside of her once more. She blinked her eyes slowly before rubbing away the sleep in her eyes. Rebecca sighed into her hands before she looked back over to Logan.

She expected that man to be asleep but he was just as awake as he was when he first appeared at their door. Rebecca wondered if he ever slept at all or if it was the future that kept him up all this time.

Logan turned to her, "What?"

Rebecca quickly shook her head, "Nothing. I just was wondering how long we've been flying now. I didn't mean to stare. Do you know when we'll land?"

"That's not what you really want to ask and you know it" Logan told her.

"And what do I really want to ask?" Rebecca countered.

Logan glanced down to his knuckles, "You want to know about the future. You want to know if you made it out in all the chaos that I live in"

"I try to avoid knowing about it… but maybe something else?" Rebecca cleared her throat.

Logan thought for a while before he said, "I never really met you when I first went to the X-Mansion"

"That's not a good start" Rebecca suddenly felt her stomach in her throat.

Logan shook his head, "You and Charles were in charge of the school as co-owners until you both had a disagreement that it made you leave the school. The children still talked about you, hoping you would come back but you had other plans"

Rebecca stared at him, "What were my plans?"

Logan swallowed and then sighed, "You found an island and named it Genosha, it was a secret haven for mutants where they could live away from society freely. You still kept in touch with the school and Xavier which seemed to agree with the two of you. That was before the Sentinels went into testing"

"Tell me what happened" Rebecca couldn't stop herself.

Logan glanced over to her once more as Rebecca stared at the stranger.

All of what she had said a moment ago was thrown out the window as she wanted to know her fate. This was why Logan was here after all, right? He was here to change the fate of his future so technically, this won't matter. If anything, it would set herself up for being prepared if worse comes to worst. Rebecca swallowed as she wondered what was going through Logan's mind to make him want to hesitate about the future.

Charles' voice seemed to be louder than usual as she turned and noticed that she could finally see him. He was standing up and moving himself as if he was about to come back inside to join them. For some reason, she didn't want him to know that she was fishing around for her future. She wanted to know first hand about what happens to her before anyone else figures it out as well.

Rebecca quickly turned back around to Logan who had his eyes set on Charles as well. She didn't want this one chance to slip between her fingers. She wondered now that Logan saw Charles would come back any moment, would it give him the excuse not to talk about it?

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes"

Logan glanced back to Charles before leaning in close making Rebecca lean in as well. She held her hands together as she anticipated what he was going to say next.

"The government always knew about your island but never could locate it so they sent the Sentinels out to find Genosha. What happened on that island was marked day one of the upcoming war" Logan finally said.

Rebecca let out a shudder as she whispered, "Oh my God"

"I'm sorry, Rebecca" Logan said as he watched her closely.

Rebecca couldn't speak but just gave off a nod.

She suddenly found that she couldn't sit anymore as her hands started to shake, she glanced around as if there was a place she could run to in the plane. Her eyes landed on Erik who had taken off his headphones and was staring straight at her. She could tell in his eyes that he had heard everything before she looked over to Charles taking a seat in his normal chair. Rebecca quickly stood up and gave her best smile over to Logan before walking down the aisle. She at first was going to sit in front of Charles but in the end went further and sat in the co-pilot seat next to Hank.

Hank glanced over, "Two visitors in less than a minute apart"

"Lucky you" Rebecca breathed out.

"I should start charging" Hank smiled to himself before glancing over to her, "Are you okay, Rebecca?"

Rebecca was about to lie before she shook her head and said, "No…"

She could see in her peripheral vision, his eyebrows furrow as he said, "What's the matter?"

Rebecca moved to explain why she was there but then found out that she couldn't. It all felt too new to her as her stomach twisted in a knot, her hands shook, and her vision blurred. She thought she was strong enough to know what happens to her but that was her wishful thinking. She wanted to hear that she was by Charles' side still after all these years.

"I thought I could handle my own future" Rebecca replied in a weak tone, "Turns out I'm not a fighter as everyone on this plane"

"You asked about your future?" Hank questioned.

"I wanted to know" Rebecca answered truthfully.

She knew that Hank was avoiding it as well, in fact, he wanted Rebecca to not know as well. He thought that maybe it would cloud their view of the task at hand. Now, it seems as though his theory would be proven right.

"And are you happy with knowing?" Hank asked.

"I'll let you know once all this passes" Rebecca felt a tear slide down her cheek.

Hank shook his head, "It won't happen. That's the whole point of Logan reaching out to us. He wants to change the future before it happens"

Rebecca closed her eyes and nodded, "Right"

Hank was quiet for a few moments before he said, "I'm guessing it wasn't good, was it. Your future. I mean, with what happened in his time"

"I wish it was" Rebecca swallowed down burning bile back into her stomach, "I was the first casualty"

"What?" Hank let out in a whisper, "How?"

Rebecca glanced back over to her friend, "How do you think?"

Hank swallowed as he said, "The Sentinels. I'm so sorry that you had to find out like that"

"I guess it's better to know than to li-" Rebecca stopped herself as she suddenly felt sorry that her older self didn't see this one coming, "I didn't have a fighting chance"

"You will now" Hank told her, "You know what happens so now you will be prepared on going up against the Sentinels… if this doesn't work out. We all will. Right?"

"Right" Rebecca slowly nodded.

Hank reached over and gave her shoulder a gentle rub, "I'm here for you, Rebecca. I'll figure out a way to prepare protection for ourselves in the future"

Rebecca smiled and looked over to Hank as she said, "I know you will"


	11. The Summit

Hank leaned forward from his seat, "The diplomats should be arriving soon. Now from what I could gather, Trask is holding a meeting an hour early with only a few select individuals. We have to assume Raven is going to be in there. Let's just hope that she won't attack him the second she sees him"

Erik called over his shoulder, "No, she's smarter than that. She'll wait until she has no choice but to act if she gets caught"

"The Summit is just up the street" Logan informed everyone.

Rebecca looked outside to the passing colors of individual flags and people smiling with overjoyed expressions written all over them. The war has just ended and even Rebecca would've been rejoicing at home if she were there. It would've meant that things were now turning back to normal. But she could only imagine that a day just like this could've happened years into the future before gigantic robots flew down from the sky. In the future, Rebecca probably didn't know what they were until it was too late.

"Are you alright? You've been quiet since we've left the plane" Charles said from beside her.

"I'm fine" Rebecca mumbled, "Just clearing my mind"

"You know I don't believe that one bit" Charles said in a low voice, "Something's bothering you, I can tell"

Rebecca turned to Charles as she said, "Can we talk about this later? We're pulling up to the Summit. No offense but I don't really want to talk about it in a car full of people listening in"

Charles looked almost hurt that she didn't want to tell him what was on her mind. If he only knew that he was the only person in the car that didn't know about her future fate then it probably would devastate him more. Rebecca looked up and didn't even react when Erik pinned two guards to a wall and lifted up the barrier. This time her stomach didn't form into a knot knowing they were going to break the law.

"As you wish" Charles whispered.

Rebecca nodded as Logan pulled the car into the building's garage, "Thank you"

"Alright, let's hurry up" Logan turned off the car as everyone piled out, "I'm going to trust that the two of you will be able to calm her down?"

Erik stole a glance to Charles before saying, "We can end this war before it starts"

Logan didn't even wait, he just nodded and quickly walked over to the entrance. Rebecca slammed her hands into her pockets as she followed him inside. Her jaw formed as she suddenly didn't feel safe about entering the same building with the same man who will kill thousands of her kind.

"Let me do the talking to her, Erik" Charles said from in front of her, "She needs to listen to reason. Promise me"

Rebecca didn't listen in on Erik's response but something else made her second guess coming here. Almost as if it was a gut feeling that something will go terribly wrong.

"How can we know we can trust him?" Rebecca whispered to Hank.

Hank snapped out of his gaze and glanced down to Rebecca as her eyes were still fixed on Erik's head.

"We don't" Hank mumbled.

"That's comforting" Rebecca responded.

Yes, she was nervous of going into the same room with a man who hates mutant's more than anything. But that doesn't mean that she is worried about what Erik would do. He seems almost too cooperative at this moment especially when he would be face to face with Trask and not plan on doing anything. Rebecca's eyes narrowed as she couldn't help but feel like something was up. She will have to keep a close eye on this man in case he decides to screw up the future for everyone.

"Make a left"

"Are you sure?" Charles glanced back to Hank.

Hank nodded, "It'll take us the backway up to the meeting room"

Charles didn't say any more as everyone turned left to a set of stairs. Just as they did, a clamor of people ran down the stairs toward them. Rebecca grunted as the group powered through the small stampede as they followed to where they left.

The group ran faster as they heard grunting noises and sounds almost like a fight. She took one last look over to Hank before they rounded the corner.

Charles shouted, "Raven!"

The blue-formed mutant looked over to the group coming in before three sets of wires hit her as she convulsed and collapsed on the table.

"Raven? Raven!" Charles quickly went over to her side.

Erik waved out his hand as the taser escaped Raven's body and slammed into the man's neck that shocked her. She watched as the man dropped down to the floor and started to convulse as much as Raven was a moment ago. Rebecca turned back to Raven before stopping as Charles pet her hair and started to shush her. She couldn't help but notice how gentle he seemed with her and caring. Although she didn't want it to, she felt a tear in her chest as she wished that Charles showed the same level of affection to her as he did to Raven.

"Raven?" Charles repeated again.

A beeping sound came from her left as she noticed Trask standing there, stunned as he waved some sort of remote around. He glanced around the room at the roomful of mutants. When his eyes settled on Rebecca, she took a step back. Her heart pounded in her chest as she swallowed hard.

"Charles?" a small voice came from the table.

"We've come for you, Erik and I" Charles told her, "Together"

Raven gave a small smile as she said, "I never thought I'd see you again"

Charles smiled, "I made you a promise a long time ago that I would protect you"

Rebecca felt another pang as she turned her attention to Hank who seemed to smile down at Raven. The smile seemed broken but still affectionate. Rebecca couldn't help but relate to how much he loved her but she wasn't aware.

"She's pretty" Rebecca whispered to him.

Hank snapped out of his gaze as he looked over to Rebecca smiling up at him. He couldn't help but give off a blush as he looked down to the floor.

Charles continued, "I'm going to keep you safe. I'm going to keep you out of their hands"

"Erik?" Raven's voice made Rebecca turn to Erik who was holding a gun.

"Erik? What are you doing?" Charles asked unsteadily.

Erik held the gun pointed at Raven as he said, "Securing our future. Forgive me, Mystique. As long as you're out there, we'll never be safe"

"Erik…" Hank started.

"Use your power, Charles. Stop him" Raven urged.

"He can't" Erik told her.

Raven suddenly made a run for it as Hank tackled Erik down to the ground before the gunshot erupted in the room as the bullet flew out, following Raven.

Rebecca turned and noticed Erik started to punch Hank while he was on the ground, he quickly moved on top of him and pinned Hank to the floor. She watched as Erik started to punch her friend more and more as Rebecca finally burst into action. Rebecca grabbed onto his throat and lifted him high above her as Erik gasped for air. She watched as his eyes immediately started to water as he grabbed at her wrists before his hand waved out. Before she knew it, Rebecca felt the metal in her belt flung her back to the wall with a sickening crack.

Charles yelled out, "Rebecca! No!"

She collapsed down where the wall met the corner of the floor and glanced up as Erik made his way over to her. Black spots appeared in her vision as she found it hard to concentrate on him as he stood over her. Suddenly a figure with long, shaggy hair tackled him to the ground and started punching him the way he did to Hank a moment ago. Rebecca let out a whimper as tears finally sprung in her eyes.

The pain was blinding as she covered her head and rubbed the back gently. Even doing that made her wince and jammed her eyes shut. Her head spun around as she leaned her head closer to the marble floor, struggling to put the pain in the back of her mind.

Rebecca heard echoing feet walk by her and knew they were Erik's as she didn't even reach out to stop him. She just let him go as she laid defeated on the floor.

She opened her eyes as she forced her blurred vision to focus as someone edged their way closer to her.

Charles reached out and held onto her hand, "Are you alright?"

Rebecca answered truthfully, "No. It all hurts"

"I am so sorry he did this to you"

"You had no control over him"

Charles sighed as he said, "No, but I could have"


	12. Chaos

As much as she knew it should be comforting to know when Charles had made a mistake, she couldn't see it now. Not only did she prove to herself that she wasn't a fighter, she let Erik walk right on by and escape. She looked up to Charles still holding onto her hand as he let out a groan and covered a spot that Erik had hit him a moment ago. It almost was an absolute pity that one man took down three mutants and barely even used his own power. She knew that if this was just a training day, Chase would've laughed at how easy it was for Erik to leave the room.

Rebecca groaned and forced herself to sit up. Charles turned and looked to her and was about to comfort her more but Rebecca waved at him and shook her head. She's had enough coddling for the past couple of days. Outside, there was screaming where there was once filled with cheers and laughter just a moment ago.

The screams, even though they weren't mutants, made Rebecca slowly edge herself up into a standing position on the wall. The sounds seemed terrified and she could only imagine what Erik was doing to make the humans scared. No doubt Raven was still down there and he had picked her out of the crowd just as easily as the Sentinels do with the mutants.

"We have to stop him" Rebecca spoke up.

"Where am I?" Logan asked from the ground.

Charles glanced over to him, "Huh?"

"How the hell did I get here?" Logan picked himself up off the ground and looked around the room.

"What? You came to us" Charles told him.

"Who are you?"

"Charles" Logan quickly grabbed onto Charles jacket, making Charles turn his attention back to Logan, "Charles Xavier!"

Logan looked him up and down, "I don't know you"

"Huh?"

"What the hell is that?"

"Whoa! Whoa! Look, I can deal with this. Just go" Charles told Hank who was now the Beast as Logan edged away from him, "Stop Erik!"

Rebecca moved herself from the wall, "I'll meet you at the ground floor"

Charles turned to her, "No, you hit your head pretty hard"

Rebecca turned to him, "Are you telling that to me or Logan?"

Upon saying his name, both Charles and Rebecca glanced back over to the man who seemed just as dazed as they all were. Problem was, Rebecca didn't remember what happened to him to make him snap into this sort of amnesia state.

Logan started to jam his eyes shut and shake his head as if somehow that would make him snap out of it.

The crowd started to scream once more but even louder this time, no doubt because of Hank's form. She turned to the sound and slowly made her way over to the broken window and peered down at the chaos. Hank was trying to hold Erik under as civilians started scrambling and running in different directions. She tried her best to look out for Raven but couldn't find her in her blue form which only meant that she turned into someone else already. Rebecca let out a sigh of defeat as she found that it was even more difficult to look for Raven in a crowd of panicked humans.

She silently cursed to herself as she knew that bringing Erik in on this mission was the worst decision. She somehow knew that he always had a plan up his sleeve that he didn't even bother to share with anyone else. Now thanks to him, Raven was gone, Trask escaped, and the whole world was watching Beast attack someone who looked human. Rebecca gripped onto the window pane as she could only watch the world link back into the future that Logan exists in.

"You're Logan, that was Hank McCoy, she is Rebecca Luesby, and I'm Charles Xavier" Charles told Logan, "You spent the last couple of days with us"

Rebecca turned around and watched as Logan stared at Charles wide-eyed before Charles said, "You're on acid. Somebody gave you really bad acid, yeah?"

Rebecca scoffed and rolled her eyes as she wondered what kind of genius would fall for that. But then she noticed that Logan started to calm down and tried to blink himself out of his daze. She then shook her head in disbelief that someone would actually fall for that.

A roar made Rebecca turn around as she noticed everything that was metal that was in the courtyard started to rattle and come alive. She watched as Hank was lifted up off of Erik from metal wires that were supposed to be decoration as Erik slowly lifted himself up and waved out his hand to Hank.

Rebecca did the same gesture from up above as a piece of the cobblestone pavement broke free and went crashing into Erik, sending him out of the fountain and into the running stampede he had caused.

Rebecca scoffed, "I've been waiting a long time to do that"

Rebecca turned and walked out of the room as Charles tried to call out for her to stop. She didn't listen as she slammed herself too hard onto the wall but kept trudging on. It felt like her feet went faster than her whole body as she guided herself carefully down the stairs and to the front entrance. When she broke outside, she noticed brave photographers and cameramen were pointing their lens at Hank while he was still pinned high up for everyone to see him. The scene made her feel sad and sorry for her friend as Hank couldn't even find the strength to wiggle himself free.

"Help me take him down" Rebecca told a man beside her, "This is horrible!"

The man turned to her as if she had just insulted him in a way. He looked her up and down before whipping his arm free from her grasp. He muttered something like _mutant lover_ in French as he marched away from her. She watched as the man left, surprised how no one else felt the same way as she did. Rebecca glanced over to her friend before she made her way to the fountain to help him out of the metal grasps.

Hank glanced down to her and only gave her a look that Rebecca tried to ignore as she moved around to the metal prongs sticking out of the fountain. She grabbed onto one and bent them down slowly as to not strain on Hank in an uncomfortable way. All around her, she could hear people gasping and whispering to themselves as Rebecca bent the metal in half until she would be able to get to Hank without a problem.

Rebecca walked over to the front and pulled off the metal cuffs from Hank's body as he plopped down to the ground. Once he was free, Rebecca gave him a slight smile and placed her hand on his shoulder as a sign of comfort.

Still, the look in Hank's eyes didn't disappear as he glanced around at the crowd backing away from them.

Hank said, "I'll meet you at the car"

Rebecca only nodded as she walked one way as Hank ran to the quickest way out of sight. She ducked her head to the ground as she tried her best not to look at anyone giving her weird glances. She already knew their faces would make Rebecca uncomfortable and wish even more that she had different powers. Luckily for the chaos that had ensued in the front of the building, it left the back nearly deserted as she became the last person to join the group. Rebecca glanced up just in time to see Hank turn back to his normal self as he gave her a nod.

Charles turned to her, "I told you to stay inside"

Rebecca shook her head, "You had other things to worry about"

"Sorry about that" Logan apologized.

Rebecca only glanced to Logan and could tell in his eyes that it was the same Logan from the future. Police sirens echoed in the distance as she glanced back over to the opening where people were still rushing away from the scene. She slowly let out a sigh as she couldn't help but feel yet another wave of defeat. Rebecca turned back around and walked over to the car and placed her hand on the handle.

"Let's go" Rebecca sighed.

"Where?"

"Where do you think?"

Charles sighed as he said, "She's right… we've done enough here"


	13. Dark Energy

"Do you think that Raven will be okay with Erik out there?"

Charles glanced up from his desk on the airplane to Rebecca laying on the couch. Her shoes were off, a blanket over her, and a wet rag that covered her forehead. Hank had confirmed that she suffered a mild concussion from Erik's attack on her yet she still was worried about the other mutant. Charles sighed as he got up from his chair and walked over and sat down next to her on the couch. He gave a small cluck with his tongue as he checked the rag to see if he needed to switch it out for a newer one.

"I have to trust that Raven knows how to keep herself safe" Charles answered, "If there's anything that I have to learn from Erik it's that he said she was a survivor. She can blend into any one and protect herself from even him. From the brief moment that I saw her, I could tell that she was a changed woman"

"But do you believe that?" Rebecca asked.

"Like I said earlier. I have to believe that she could take care of herself" Charles answered.

Rebecca sighed, "I'm sorry we couldn't get Raven to come home. I know that you really wanted her to. Just wished that Erik didn't spoil your come back home party. We should've known that that would happen"

Charles smirked, "Just worry about yourself right now"

Rebecca shook her head, "I'm on a plane heading home and am supposed to be laying down the whole time. I've got a lot on my mind now"

"We all do. We'll be home soon though" Charles told her, "We'll be back home and safe from the dangers of being exposed. It is there that we will be able to regroup from all of this. I know that this was especially hard for you. I remember my first mission with the CIA and how nervous I was. That was the first time that I met Erik actually. He screwed up the mission then too if I'm not mistaken"

"Old habits die hard, I guess" Rebecca couldn't help but giggle, "I'm sure you regret that moment of meeting him"

Charles thought for a moment before he said, "No, actually. I don't"

Rebecca shifted, "But he caused so much damage"

"And even though he did, I still found a fond friendship with that man. I won't admit it to his face right now but he was always like a brother to me" Charles mused.

Rebecca looked at the man intently as Charles glanced out of the window to the clouds slowly passing by. She's never met someone who would call a man such as Erik, their brother. Even after all this time when he had taken Charles' legs to walk and the woman he called a sister. Even now she could see in his eyes the look of friendship that he hid so well from Erik's face.

Rebecca chuckled, "You are a strange man, Charles"

Charles smiled, "So I've been told time and time again. I just never seem to listen whenever it comes to critics. Especially when it comes from one of my friends. Even if that friend is you"

Rebecca felt her heart fall out of the sky as she said, "Oh"

"What?" Charles beamed, "You honestly think that I found offense to your words?"

Rebecca shook her head, "Nothing. Just a little headache had pushed through. Nothing really to worry about"

"Do you need more pain medication?" Charles asked.

"No" Rebecca told him, "I just need to rest now. Thanks for keeping me company anyways"

* * *

Later that night, Rebecca tapped her fingers together as she stared up at the ceiling. Not being able to move around as much has caused her to be bored out of her mind. A shadow appeared next to her as Logan walked over and sat on the chair across from her as he took out a cigar.

"You know those could kill you" Rebecca commented.

"Are you seriously telling me that?" Logan turned to her.

Rebecca smirked, "I forgot who I was talking to"

Logan glanced over to the back of the plane, "Charles is out like a light"

Rebecca nodded, "Good, he needs his rest"

"And what about you?" Logan looked over to her.

"I've rested enough" Rebecca sighed, "Still, Hank's orders to not move until we land"

Logan nodded, "You hit your head pretty hard. There was a crack in the wall where your head connected"

Rebecca blinked in surprise as she didn't even know that her head had bounced off of the wall that hard. Still, thinking back to the moment she fought with Erik, she wouldn't be surprised as she had heard something crack and had only assumed it was her skull, thankfully it wasn't.

Logan glanced back once more before his lighter illuminated his face as he puffed the smoke a couple of times before he threw down the lighter.

Logan commented, "Never knew it took Charles this long"

"Took him long to do what?" Rebecca asked.

"To confess his feelings" Logan said in a nonchalant voice.

Rebecca glanced over to him, "What? Confess what feelings?"

Logan looked to her in amusement, "Seems like you did hit your head pretty hard"

"What are you implying?" Rebecca felt herself give off a shaky breath.

Logan smirked, "You were _co-owners_ of the school, now what title gives you that right?"

Rebecca felt her breath hitched inside of her throat as she barely whispered out, "Marriage"

"Exactly" Logan told her.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Rebecca asked, "What's your purpose if you said that you've never met me in the future. You already know how this all plays out"

"Because I've seen Charles without you" Logan explained, "He's driven, yes. Compassionate even but also selfless. There are times where I could see that he misses you but never picks up the phone to call. He just assumes that what happened is for the best for you both. That's why it devastated him to figure out about Genosha"

Rebecca sighed, "Even if you do turn this future around into a brighter one what makes you think that this will change? What happened that made Charles and I separate?"

Logan glanced to his cigar burning in his hand as he said, "A student. There will come a powerful mutant who has a darker energy inside of her; you wanted to help her control her powers but Charles wanted to lock the energy away from her grasp so she will never face the force ever. The argument went for days and one night, Charles locked the energy away without your consent and when you found out, you left. Little did he know back then that you were right, caging the animal only made it worse and years later it not only consumed the mutant but cause chaos and destruction that I believe linked the sentinels into coming officially online"

Rebecca watched him as she asked, "Who was the student? What was her name?"

Logan looked to her, "Her name is Jean Grey. The dark force calls herself the Phoenix. I knew Jean Grey as a loving woman who cared for the students she taught at the school. But the Phoenix was a bitter animal who held a grudge for as long as she was trapped. It was a horrible thing to watch unfold"

Rebecca felt something dawn on her as she said, "You loved her"

Logan sighed, "Yes"

"Thank you for telling me this" Rebecca told Logan, "I won't forget this conversation with you"


	14. Square One

The sound of the creaking of the old door was almost like music to Rebecca's ears as she looked around the front of the room. The place started to smell a little bit musty after the couple of days without fresh air in them but it still was the greatest sense of smell she has ever breathed in. A faint smile was just about to emerge when she heard something fall behind her as a grunt sounded from the floor. She turned back around and noticed Charles was on the floor as he rubbed his legs with a pained expression written on his face. Rebecca quickly rushed to his side as she knelt down in front of him with Hank by her side.

Logan quickly joined the rest of the group, "What happened?"

Rebecca lifted him up easily off of the ground as she said, "Come on"

"Can he walk?"

Hank turned to Logan, "He needs his treatment"

"Hank, I can hear them" Charles said in a panicked voice.

"I know. It's okay" Hank said as Rebecca placed him gently by the pillar.

"Can you make it stop?"

"I'll get them"

Hank quickly rushed off as he ran upstairs to his lab, Rebecca stayed close as she touched him gently on his arm. Charles groaned as he cupped his head in between his hands and shuddered as the voices returned once more. His eyes suddenly popped open before he turned and looked directly into Rebecca's eyes. Her eyes slightly narrowed as she took this time to take a step closer to him as if he was going to whisper something to her.

Logan said sternly, "Hey, hey. Pull yourself together. It's not over yet"

Charles said in a small voice, "Oh, Rebecca… I didn't know. After all this time, you stuck by me for love. I was just too blind to see what you wanted from me"

Rebecca gasped as she backed away from Charles as his eyes nearly bore into her skull. She turned her head away as if that would help from Charles not reading her thoughts. Her heart hammered in her chest as she felt the heat rise to her cheeks.

Charles glanced over to Logan, "You don't believe that"

Logan stared at him, "How do you know?"

Charles pointed to his legs, "As these go… this comes back. They all come back"

"Look" Logan sighed, "I'm still here and she's still out there. We need your help, Charles. Not like this. I need you. We can't find Raven. Not without your powers"

Rebecca heard Hank's feet pounding down the stairs as he rushed past Rebecca and over to Charles. She felt her heart sink as he reached out with greedy hands over to the blasted serum.

"I added a little extra because you missed a dose" Hank told him.

Charles started to flex his arm as Rebecca shook her head and took a step closer to him.

Rebecca spoke up, "Don't do it, Charles"

Charles looked up to Rebecca and stared at her, this time, she didn't hide from his gaze as she felt his wave of power go through her as she wanted him to see her thoughts of him. How she admired him when she first saw him, how that admiration turned to love and quickly turned to pity after he started to take the serum. Charles' face scrunched up as his hands shook with the serum in hand. With a sudden drop, he placed the serum by him and covered his face as his whole body shuddered. Rebecca inhaled deeply in relief as Charles smoothed out his hair and looked back up to Rebecca.

Charles said, "Hank, do me a favor. Would you help me to my study please?"

"Come on, I got you"

Rebecca turned and looked to Logan as he gave a nod of approval to her. Even though she wanted to run and hide from Charles after he found out about her feelings for him, she followed them inside the study. Rebecca already knew what Charles wanted to do as she walked over to the closet and placed her hand on the doorknob. She braced herself before she opened the door to reveal the wheelchair that has been patiently waiting ever since Charles had abandoned it.

"Are you sure about this?" Hank asked.

Charles answered honestly, "Absolutely not"

"Here, I'll help him into it" Hank responded as Rebecca moved out of Hank's way.

"Well!" a voice came from behind her, "It's been awhile since I've seen that dusty old thing. You must've hit quite the breakthrough in Paris"

Rebecca's head whipped around as she said, "Chase!"

"Nice to see you remember me" Chase said as she walked over to the cat, "You're lucky that Hank made an automatic feeder for me"

Rebecca rolled her eyes as she picked him up, "You know you could've hunted, right? God, I missed you"

"Okay" Chase squirmed, "That's enough, really. I just wanted to see what was all the fuss about. I didn't come here for hugs"

Rebecca ignored him as she nuzzled him deeper, "You never do. Still, I do it anyways"

Chase pushed Rebecca roughly away, "Alright, that's enough"

Rebecca let him jump down and run out of the study as she turned to the three men, "So, where are we going?"

"Cerebro" Hank informed her as everyone filled out the door, "He's going to try and contact Raven"

"Do you think he's ready for that?" Rebecca whispered.

Hank looked at her before he sighed, "We have no choice. Logan is still with us which means that nothing happened in the future. Raven has more will now to go after Trask once more. We're back to square one"

Rebecca sighed, "I was hoping you wouldn't say that. I hope we have enough time. I have a feeling that Cerebro is not going to go well. He can barely handle the voices around him and now he's going to force his mind to expand"

Hank only gave her the same look that she felt was written all over her face. She nervously bit her lip as they walked through the lower levels of the school. The place almost felt bigger than the last time she was there.

Logan asked, "When was the last time you were down here?"

"The last time we went looking for students" Hank mentioned.

"A lifetime ago" Charles said from his wheelchair.

Charles stopped in front of a door as blue light illuminated his face. Rebecca patiently waited as she couldn't help but feel more nervous for him as the seconds ticked by.

An automated voice spoke up, "Welcome, Professor"

Rebecca glanced over to Hank once more as they slowly made their way into Cerebro to the desk in the middle of the dome.

Hank leaned in and turned on the machine, "Raven's wounded. She won't be moving fast"

Charles slowly picked up his helmet and blew off the dust. Rebecca glanced around the room, not knowing what she was expecting to find. She always thought that it would be covered in cobwebs from not being down here for years at a time. The only trace that showed that it has been a while was the thick layer of dust on the controls. She sighed as it whirred to life as Charles slowly placed the helmet on his head.

Charles confessed, "These are muscles I haven't stretched in a long time"

He gasped as the spindles wiggled to life. She glanced up just as the blue tiles slowly disappeared into nothingness. Rebecca glanced around as she saw hundreds of mutants floating around her. The mutants that Charles could connect with even though they don't know he is reaching their minds.

That was before she heard shouting as she actually watched the mutants around her. All of them looked terrified. Some were screaming, others sobbing, and even some were being bullied.

Rebecca braced herself as she watched the humans spin slowly as Charles tried his best to locate Raven. Charles made a struggling sound as he started to tense up and take shallow breaths.

Rebecca could tell that this wasn't going to last very long.

The negative voices started to become louder and louder as they spun around. The mutants started to blur as she suddenly couldn't figure out who Charles was holding onto anymore. Now he was letting his fear take a hold of him as Rebecca stepped away. She even had to admit that the sounds of the weeping and yelling were getting to her as well. She could only imagine what Charles was going through in the chair with the helmet on.

Rebecca yelled out, "Charles! Snap out of it!"

Charles then let out a scream as the glass on Cerebro shattered. Rebecca yelped and moved her face away as she felt bits and pieces fly by her. Charles yanked off his helmet as he gave a shuddering breath. Hank and Logan looked to each other as Rebecca made her way over to him.

"Charles, it's alright"

He didn't answer her as the tears brimmed his eyes. The look of defeat spread over his entire face as his hands shook. Rebecca formed her jaw as she glanced back over to Hank who took in a deep breath.

"We'll go check the generator" Hank mentioned as he nodded for Rebecca to follow him.


	15. The Heart

Rebecca followed Hank out of the room, "It's not the machinery, is it?"

"I'm afraid not. I mean, he did probably blast the thing but it's not that" Hank glanced back as they rounded the corner.

Rebecca looked to him, "So why bring me here?"

"We need to give them some time alone"

"Why?"

Hank swallowed as he bent down, "Because this is all on us. Him being so fragile and if we're there, he'll turn to us. I do admit that if we were a little bit more harder on him then all of this would've been different. Maybe even avoided by now, but it's not. I created the drug, we let him stay on it for so long and you just swept everything under the rug even when you didn't like it. The only one that seems to be suffering is Charles. We should've predicted this whole thing. That's why we need Logan to be in there with him. Give him the kind of push he needs. Because we all know that it's not going to come from us-"

"I know" Rebecca stopped Hank as he looked up to her, "I've been thinking that too. Sometimes I feel sorry that Logan has to go through with this. It sounds like he knew a different Charles then the one that we knew. The one that we all wished he was. Instead, he just had to take the time and patience to pull Charles along. But he's been with us for so long now that I believe it will be for a good cause"

Hank shifted his position, "You still think we can have a brighter future?"

"I **have** to believe that" Rebecca smiled, "If not for all of us than for the people that are left in his future. I know that I'm not in his future, I have no idea if you are too, but Charles is still there from what I can gather. He's relying on all of us to make it right"

"I know I've said this time and time before but I'm glad you're here. I don't know what I'd be doing here without you in all of this mess" Hank scoffed.

Rebecca looked to her friend, surprised, "What do you mean? I barely did anything to help this mission"

"It's not what you physically did on the mission that counts" Hank explained, "It's what you've been doing emotionally. Keeping us from falling apart, listening when we need it, and giving the conversation that matters most. I know you probably don't think this way but you're the heart of us all, Rebecca. Even if there's only two of us living in this mansion"

Rebecca smiled, "Thanks, Hank"

Rebecca walked over and bent down to his level as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a hug. Hank gave a small chuckle as he too wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. She found herself smiling as a tear rolled down her cheek, his words were something she's been needing to hear. So long has she been in this house and often she felt underappreciated from them and just hearing from Hank was more than enough for her. She wiped her eye as she let go, leaned back, and sat down on the floor.

"Anytime" Hank smiled back.

He too changed his sitting position as he sat cross-legged on the floor next to the generator. Rebecca couldn't help but feel like Raven made the stupid decision of not opening up her heart to Hank. She truly let this man slip through her fingers as she wished that someone will come around and share his feelings. Hank could've made Raven a very different, very happy person if she had chose to stay.

"Should we go back?" Rebecca asked.

Hank scrunched up his face, "Not yet. Just give them a little bit more time"

Rebecca looked to her friend, "But don't you need to fix the generator?"

"Oh, this?" Hank waved to the machine, "All I have to do is flip these two switches and it's back on. Nothing too fancy"

Rebecca gave a side nod, "Just a little bit more stalling for Logan to give a beat down"

Hank shrugged, "I guess it's good to know that there could be no more damage then it's already done. I feel like he can make him snap out of it. Just hopefully Charles doesn't say something too stupid this time"

Rebecca chuckled as she shook her head. She sighed as she ran her hand through her hair as she couldn't believe that it was only a couple of days ago that Charles had told Logan to fuck off. It almost felt like a daydream the way he reacted to the man that now Rebecca seemed to trust.

She sighed as she couldn't help but fidget a little after remembering how Charles had heard her thoughts earlier that day. A blush rose to her cheeks as Logan's voice echoed in her mind, telling her that she would be his future wife.

"I know that look" Hank spoke up.

Rebecca snapped out of it, "What?"

He rose an eyebrow as he moved a hand around his cheekbones as Rebecca cleared her throat and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

Hank smirked, "He figured it out, didn't he? Don't think I haven't noticed. You both have been keeping your space more than usual"

Rebecca stammered, "I forgot how fast his telepathy comes back"

Hanks gave a nod, "And you just so happened to be thinking about him during that time"

"He fell, what else was I supposed to do?" Rebecca asked, "Plus it didn't help about what Logan had said on the plane"

Hank's eyebrows furrowed, "What did he say? Something about the future again"

"Turns out we're husband and wife for a time" Rebecca tried to say in the most nonchalant way.

Hank's eyes brightened, "Congratulations, I mean, in advanced"

"Thank you" Rebecca smiled but then panicked, "I just never thought that Charles would find out about my feelings like this. After all of this, all that we've been through I just wanted him to confess to me. Not some accidental mindslip"

"Maybe it's what he needed in order to realize his own feelings for you" Hank told her, "I know him, Rebecca. Unlike me, he won't let a good thing slip through his grasps. Not after all these years of sticking by his side"

Rebecca slowly smiled as she said, "I think it's time to go back now"

Together, they got up as Hank flipped the switches as the main lights shone through the halls as they turned the corner and walked over to Charles and Logan, Hank glanced over to Rebecca before announcing, "The power's back on"

"Yes" Charles agreed, "Yes, it is"

Charles turned and looked over to Rebecca, making her almost feel scared under his stare again. He gave her a small smile before turning back over to look inside Cerebro. She felt a gentle hand on the small of her back as Hank gently pushed her forward. She gave him a look before she followed the group back into Cerebro as she heard Charles take a deep breath. She glanced over to Logan who gave her a small smile and a look of reassurance as Charles placed the helmet on one last time.


	16. The Future Unknown

The room glimmered down to a dark red once more as the mutants appeared around them. Rebecca held her breath as she waited for the screams to shout all around once more. But they didn't, instead, they went about as if nothing were affecting them. Charles deeply inhaled as the mutants zoomed by before a blonde woman sat in front of them with a big brimmed black hat as she stared off into the distance. She immediately recognized Raven in that form as Hank sucked in a breath as Charles began to speak to her.

"Raven, stop. Stop running"

Charles paused for a moment before he said, "Back at the house, where you should be. I need you to come home"

"If you kill Trask, you will be creating countless more just like him" Charles continued.

Charles huffed before he said, "Those are Erik's words, not yours. The girl I grew up with wasn't capable of killing. She was good, fair, full of compassion"

"Shut her down, Charles. Get in her head" Logan urged.

Charles stumbled, "She's not letting me in. I'm barely holding on. I'm not strong enough yet"

Rebecca looked around at the other mutants, she realized that she had lost Raven already in the mass of mutants. She hoped that that didn't mean anything as she knew that Raven was running away from Charles. If only she just stopped and listened to what Charles had to say than maybe it would work. Something told her that Raven was done listening to Charles as the man focused even more before he spoke once more to his sister.

"I know what Trask has done, but killing him will not bring them back. It will set you on a path from which there is no return. An endless cycle of killing. Us and them, until there is nothing left. But we can stop it, right now, you and I. You just have to come home"

The lights went back to the brighter color as Rebecca closed her eyes and sighed. Charles had lost his connection to her from either Raven's part or Charles wasn't strong enough, she didn't know. Still, she felt in her gut that Charles didn't have enough time to get through to Raven.

"Where is she?" Logan asked.

Charles chuckled, "She's in an airport, boarding a plane"

Logan continued, "A plane to where?"

Charles thought for a moment before he said, "Washington, DC"

"Guys, there's something I need to show you" Hank announced as he led them to his study.

"What is it?" Rebecca asked.

"I set the system I designed to record any news about Paris over all three networks and PBS" Hank said as he sat down.

"All three? Wow" Logan blinked in surprise.

"Yeah, and PBS" Hank said as he shrugged at his biggest accomplishment, "Look what I found"

A news reporter appeared onscreen as he announced, "Tomorrow, in front of the White House, the President will make his announcement. He will be joined by Secretary of Defense Laird and has even sought the help of renowned scientist Bolivar Trask his special advisor to combat this mutant issue. The White House has asked-"

As Hank stopped the tape, Rebecca scoffed as she said, "Raven doesn't realize that if she kills Trask at an event like that with the whole world watching-"

"Then I came a long way for nothing" Logan sighed.

"And there's more bad news. I saw in a report they found traces of her blood in Paris" Hank informed everyone, "For all we know, they already have her DNA which is all they'd need"

"To create the Sentinels of the future" Rebecca finished for him.

"There's a theory in quantum physics that time is immutable" Hank sighed, "It's like a river. You can throw a pebble into it and create a ripple, but the current always corrects itself. No matter what you do, the river just keeps flowing in the same direction"

"What are you trying to say?" Logan asked.

"What I'm saying is what if the war is inevitable?" Hank continued, "What if she's meant to kill Trask? What if this is just simply who she is?"

"Just because someone stumbles, loses their way doesn't mean they're lost forever" Charles spoke up.

Rebecca glanced down to Charles as he silently chuckled to himself as he twirled his fingers around and around. He straightened up and then looked head on to Hank.

Charles objected, "No, I don't believe that theory, Hank. And I can not believe that is who she is. Ready the plane. We're going to Washington"

Rebecca just barely sat down on her bed when a knock came at her door before Charles said, "I believe you should stay, Rebecca. You suffered a tremendous blow to your head and going to Washington will only make it worse. Please just sit this one out, alright? Rest until you're at your full strength. We can handle it from here"

Rebecca couldn't help but smile at the man as she said, "But you and I both know that's not going to happen. I'm going to board that plane with you whether you like it or not"

"Even if it's for your own health?" Charles countered.

Before Rebecca could argue back, a pain in her head made her wince as she rubbed the side of her temple. She heard the wheels of Charles' chair moving before she felt him sitting nearly in front of her. Rebecca glanced up and noticed that Charles had come into the room with a glass of water and some pain medication. She gave off a sheepish smile as she took the two before taking a long drink of water. Rebecca glanced down to her cup as she sighed and looked back over to Charles, seeming to have waiting for her answer.

Rebecca said, "I started with you guys, I mind as well finish"

"This isn't about seeing things done, we got this" Charles went on.

Rebecca felt her heart skip a beat as Charles had leaned in and placed a hand on her knee. She glanced down to it as heat rose in her cheeks before Charles gently took his hand off of her knee. She couldn't look back up to him as she looked to her glass of water which started to tremble in her hands. Rebecca steadied her breathing as she turned and looked back into Charles' clear blue eyes.

"Trask will be there just a couple of days after Raven's attack which could only mean that the Sentinels will be there as well" Rebecca told him.

Charles didn't say anything but silently nodded his head.

"I know" Charles said, "He will make a statement with them, no doubt. Which could only mean they will be able to pick us out of the crowd quite quickly"

"Which means you will need my powers in order to fight back" Rebecca told him.

Charles looked into Rebecca's eyes as she stared back into his, she wasn't talking about fighting to win like what Raven implied. Rebecca was talking about fighting to protect. She knows that Charles will be going in a wheelchair and rend himself the most defenseless. Rebecca wasn't going for the thrill but to make sure that Charles comes back home safely.

Charles couldn't help but let out a chuckle, "I completely understand how I chose you to be my wife. You are just as fierce as you are delicate, Rebecca. Why I couldn't see it before will haunt me to the end of my days"

Rebecca's eyes snapped up as Charles smiled at her with the brightest smile that she has ever seen on his face. She nervously cleared her throat as she glanced away before she felt Charles place his hand on her cheek. She turned and stared back at him as his eyes went from her eyes then back to her lips. Charles leaned in slowly until their foreheads were touching as Rebecca felt her lip quiver as she held onto his arm for support. She closed her eyes as she relished on the feeling of being close to him, feeling his breath mold around her lips as she felt him move up to kiss her.

"Guys!" Hank's voice yelled from down the hall, "Time to go!"

Rebecca jumped as she leaned back as Charles snapped out of his daze as well. She blushed a little bit harder as she took on last gulp from her glass before placing it down on her nightstand. She pushed herself off of her bed before she felt that her hand was caught onto something.

Rebecca glanced down as she noticed Charles had held onto it before he looked up and kissed the palm of her hand as they stared at one another.

Rebecca smiled down to him as Charles finally let go before she went behind Charles and guided him out of the room from the handles of his wheelchair. Charles felt himself smiling faintly as Rebecca led him down to the plane together where Logan and Hank were already waiting for them.


	17. Washington DC

"I can't believe he let you come with us" Hank said.

Rebecca shrugged, "I can't believe you're letting me sit in the front"

Hank did a side nod as Rebecca looked up to the endless sky around her. Her heart drummed in her chest as she thought about finally figuring out what the Sentinels would look like. She just hoped that they would remain offline while they were there. Rebecca took a glance back into the body of the plane as she could see Charles rubbing his legs, still trying to get used to the burning sensation. She shifted her body and looked over to Hank as he rubbed his lips together in pure concentration.

"I want to ask about the future" Hank blurted out, "I can only assume that I don't make it sense he doesn't talk to me about who I am. It's not much but it's something that I want to know. While he's here, you know"

"It wouldn't hurt to know" Rebecca smiled, "Even though I don't make it, I've learned a lot of things that I'm proud of. I'm glad to know that I've lived in an island made for mutants for their protection. I'm also glad to know about what happens between Charles and I. Who knows? Maybe you and Raven find a better future together as well"

Hank stayed quiet for a moment before he said, "Not likely. But thanks for trying anyways. I know what you were trying to do"

"I hope it was enough" Rebecca sighed.

Hank smiled as he turned to her, "It's more than enough. I know that I have a friend that's looking out for a brighter future for me"

Rebecca felt a smile dawn on her face as she turned back and looked outside at the sky once more. She deeply inhaled as she wondered what it would be like in the future and hopefully they will see a sign soon of it working. Whether in Logan snapping back into his old panicked self back in the Summit or some sort of flash of light, she didn't know. She just hoped that she didn't have to wait 50 years to find out herself.

"Hopefully we will be more than enough to change the future" Rebecca said.

"What we do won't matter but it all rests on Raven's shoulders now" Hank spoke the truth.

* * *

Rebecca muttered under her breath, "There has to be thousands of people here. Raven's an idiot if she thinks she will attend today"

"That's the whole point" Charles replied back.

Rebecca pushed Charles through the metal detector as it beeped in a loud tone. She gave the guard a sympathetic look as Charles pretended to look pissed. It worked as the guard gave a quick nod and looked down to Charles in a polite manner.

"Can I see your invitations, please?" the man asked.

Charles placed his fingertips on his temples, "Yes, you may. These three are with me"

"Go ahead" the man waved them off.

"Thank you" Rebecca smiled as she pushed Charles through the grass before turning around to see Logan staring at the metal detector, "Logan!"

"Was he expecting it to go off or something?" Hank whispered.

Rebecca found the handicap spot and stopped Charles in the corner as she glanced around the section. There were way too many people around to even pick off on her own.

Charles shook his head, "I haven't found her yet. But she has to be here"

"The President of the United States" the announcer began.

Patriotic music erupted as the President came onto the stage with everyone in his office as he waved at the crowd below him.

Rebecca's eyes zeroed in on Trask as her breath lodged inside of her throat once more. She also recognized a man that was with him at the Summit. The man who tased Raven in the first place and the one who Logan seemed to not like as well. Her heart raced as her palms began to sweat from seeing just those two on stage. A hand slipped into hers as she looked down and noticed Charles had one hand in hers and the other on his temple.

The President began, "My fellow Americans, today we face the gravest threat in our history mutants"

Rebecca swallowed hard as she tried to keep a straight face as the President of the United States addressed them as a threat. She glanced around the crowd as she couldn't help but noticed that some people nodded in agreement. She closed her eyes and sighed as she wished that instead of trying to stop Erik from killing Raven, she should've knocked out Raven when she had the chance. They could've stopped from being labeled the enemy in their own home.

"We have prepared for this threat" he continued.

Rebecca turned and looked over to Hank who shifted uncomfortably himself. She knew that the President would be announcing his plan already. He's always been a showoff kind of man, someone who claimed to have a plan but really, had no idea what he was talking about.

"In the immortal words of Robert Oppenheimer…" he paused, "Behold. The world will never be the same again"

The flag dropped as eight gigantic robots stood in their place, making Rebecca gasp as she took a step back. She felt Charles grip on her hand tighten but this time, it did nothing to settle her nerves.

People cheered as all around her military and some civilian men got up and saluted the Sentinels.

Rebecca couldn't help but look over to Logan as she could practically see his blood boil under his skin. These things were the reason why all of his friends were dead. The robots that everyone was looking at today were the reason why they had such a dark future. No one seemed to realize that. Not even Trask himself as he looked over his shoulder and admired his work towering over him.

Charles spoke to her, "Stay calm, Rebecca"

"I can't" Rebecca admitted.

Charles was expecting that answer as he gripped onto her hand one last time but set it free. Rebecca slowly let her hand fall to her side as she stared up at the 1st models of the Sentinels. The 1st model that more than likely were the ones who killed her in the not so distant future. All she needed were these robots to go online and then she will be as good as dead.

Rebecca whispered, "She's going to make her move soon, Charles"

She knew that what she was saying wouldn't matter as Charles was trying the best he possibly could do. Still, staring up at the robots made that sick feeling return to her stomach that something was going to go horribly wrong. If anything, she wanted to find Raven, shut her down, and get the hell out of DC while they had the chance.

"Did you find her yet?" Hank asked.

"Raven?" Charles let out, "I have her"

Rebecca turned and scanned the crowd, "Where?"

Charles pointed to the left, "There. You see? Secret Servicemen. Left of the stage"

"Got her"

"Go!"


	18. Not According to Plan

As Rebecca pushed through the crowd, something made her turn and glance up to the Sentinels. She gasped as she realized that their eyes lit up as they started to power up. She turned and looked over to Raven as she realized that she was still frozen but far away. Rebecca muttered a sorry as she gently pushed her way through to get to her faster. She glanced back over to the Sentinels as people started to get up from their seats and cheer on the demonstration.

"Is it because of us?" Rebecca asked, "We're getting too close to them"

Logan shook his head, "Right now let's worry about getting over to Raven"

As the crowd gasped, some got up and took a step backward and right into Rebecca. She grunted as the people around her didn't seem to realize they had bumped into her. The Sentinels started to levitate over the air and above the stage as Nixon waved up his hand to the robots. Rebecca shuddered as she tried her best to keep up with Hank and Logan leading the way.

Hank glanced up, "So this is it? This is the robots of the future? We need to hurry before they sense us here"

"Gentlemen, you cannot pass this point" an officer waved out to the three.

Rebecca looked over to Logan, "Now what?"

Logan glanced up, "Now we worry about the Sentinels"

Rebecca looked up just in time to see the Sentinel's arms turned into loads of guns as they aimed at different parts of the yard. She felt a gasp lodge in her throat as she took a step back and looked at the machinery. Even though she should feel relieved that none of them were aimed at her, she still felt weary that their weapons were out nonetheless.

All at once, the Sentinels started to fire out into the crowd as the demonstration turned to chaos. Rebecca ducked herself to the ground as people all around started to scramble for cover.

Hank turned and looked to Rebecca with wide-eyes, "It's Erik"

Rebecca stiffened up as she slowly shook her head, not surprised that Erik had the flair for the dramatic.

She covered herself once more but not before Logan grabbed onto her and led her out of the line of fire. Rebecca glanced up as the Sentinels hovered around and started to fire at random spots, not at people or mutants, if there were any here. She suddenly realized how Hank could easily assume that it was Erik as she looked over her shoulder to him. Hank kept right at their heels as he covered his head as debris fell around them. Logan spotted a car as he quickly dove for cover with Rebecca by his side as they all looked up to the Sentinels.

The car blew up in front of them as they flew back, "Ah!"

Rebecca felt ringing in her ears as she glanced up to the Sentinels flying around and shooting at random. Her heart sank as a Sentinel turned and looked over to them and raised a gun at the trio. She silently cursed to herself as her fingers moved in elaborate fashion before stones appeared from all over the yard and covered the three in a rock like layer. Rebecca silently whimpered as she heard the shots being fired but luckily never did any immediate damage in the makeshift shield she had just made.

Hank sighed, "Thanks Rebecca"

Rebecca sighed as she found comfort in the smell of the damp earth as she glanced up into the cracks. The Sentinels didn't seem to register that the rocks were formed by mutant abilities as they turned and floated away from them. She sighed in relief as she slowly let down the stones all around them to see the damage that has been done.

She could see that everyone had nearly cleared out, even most of the officers have left as well. Rebecca got up and looked out to the distance as her heart started to sink.

An entire stadium was slowly levitating over to the White House as she could only assume it was Erik controlling it.

Rebecca groaned, "You've got to be kidding me"

Logan sighed as he shook his head. Rebecca turned and watched as the Sentinels were still firing rounds into the nearly empty crowd. She took a step forward and was about to launch a boulder into one when Logan reached out and grabbed onto her. Rebecca looked over as he quickly shook his head and went off to the side. She turned and looked to Hank who gave a quick nod before the pair followed Logan instead.

Hank glanced up, "What do we do?"

Rebecca shook her head as she found that she was at a lost of words. Even if she had a plan, it wouldn't work anyways. From what she could tell, Erik was trying to make a demonstration that their plan wasn't going to work. But just like Raven's plan, it was going about all wrong as the humans now had every right to be scared of them.

"We can't fight them that high up" Rebecca replied.

"They will always be that high up" Logan noted, "We have to stay out of their view as much as possible"

"And then what?" Hank asked.

"Then we'll have to fight" Logan glanced over to them.

Rebecca glanced around the yard, "There's eight of them here"

Logan sighed, "I hate to break it to you, Rebecca, but eight it a Godsend compared to how many come in a pack. We'll have to take them down before any casualties happen. It's only worse now that Erik's found a way to control them"

Rebecca sighed, "He also knows we're definitely not on his side"

"Which only makes matters worse" Logan admitted.

She looked around once more as she couldn't help but feel more defenseless as she noticed that Erik was in charge. She knew she should've just let the man rot in his plastic cell down in the Pentagon. Now it only felt like they made matters worse instead of better.


	19. Magneto's Intention

A deep shadow loomed overhead as Rebecca looked up to see the stadium over her head. She watched as the concrete slowly started to fall as it came over their heads. She suddenly remembered Charles as she looked around with panic in her eyes for him and immediately found him, not far off from where they last left him. Rebecca gasped as she looked over his head to see a bit of concrete and metal tear away from the massive stadium that Erik was lifting. A strangled scream erupted from her lungs as she watched helplessly from far away.

"Charles!" Logan yelled out.

"No!" Hank hollered.

Charles pushed himself off of the wheelchair and rolled himself away but then quickly disappeared under concrete and metal making tears spring into Rebecca's eyes. They all set off into a sprint in Charles direction as the lawn shook from the concrete falling all around them. Rebecca couldn't look up to stop the cemented rocks and run to Charles' aid like everyone else. A yelp escaped her lips as a piece of metal fell down right next to her, nearly missing her leg by inches.

A thunderous sound came from behind her, making Rebecca stop and turn around just as dust wafted into her eyes, face, and lungs. She let out a stifled cough and covered her eyes as they burned from the particles getting in. Rebecca waved off the dust near her face as she forced herself to open her eyes before she backed away and stared at the mass in front of her.

The stadium had collapsed not that far from where she was standing as she realized that she was inside of the circular field now. She could hear the police sirens as they echoed from behind the barrier, beckoning to come inside.

Rebecca turned back around as Hank came back to her and held onto her arm lightly as he nodded over his shoulder.

"Come on" he urged as they went up onto the set of stairs that fell to see Erik looking around the field, "I'm probably not supposed to ask this kind of thing but in the future, do I make it?"

Logan answered right away, "No, but we can change that, right?"

Hank looked over to Logan then back at Rebecca who formed her jaw as she gave him a quick nod. Hank took off his glasses and threw them off to the side as his skin turned into blue fur as his teeth formed as a roar escaped his lips. Rebecca turned and looked over to Erik as he heard the sound and set his eyes on them. Her body tightened as Erik turned to the two Sentinels behind him and said something to the robots before it turned and set its sights on them. Rebecca readied herself as they both marched over to the trio standing off to the side.

"Here they come" Rebecca let out.

The Sentinels faced their guns over to them and shot into their direction as the trio ran off into different directions. Rebecca grunted as she jumped off of the set of stairs and tumbled to the floor before she took cover in a row of chairs. She turned and noticed how many concrete rocks were around before she started to wiggle her fingers as she watched them move. A faint smile escaped her lips as she turned and sent them crashing into the robot's up ahead.

"Rebecca!" Hank yelled out as he waved off to the side, "They've found Charles!"

She turned and looked over to her right as she noticed a Sentinel was making it's way over to a random pile of rubble. Rebecca noticed that she was also the only one who would be able to reach him in time. She turned and noticed Logan had taken care of the Sentinels distraction as she broke off into a run.

Charles squirmed under the pile as he tried to break free as a Sentinel slowly came into his view as it raised it's gun at him. He tensed up but just as it was about to fire, a woman stood between him and the robotic villain.

"I will kill you if you touch him" Rebecca's voice sounded out to Charles' ears.

"Rebecca!" Charles squirmed even harder, "No!"

But Rebecca stood her ground as the Sentinel turned his weapon onto her.

Rebecca let out a yell as rocks formed and hit onto the Sentinel, causing him to go off balance as she sent another square into it's chest. A slab of concrete formed under her as she went over and stood on it like a platform as it soared up to the Sentinels face. At the last minute, she jumped and used all of her super strength to make the robot crash down into the gravel under him. She stood up and formed her fingers as the rocks worked their way around the Sentinel and dismembered him piece by piece as the Sentinel twitched and struggled to stay alive. A breath of relief escaped her lips as she watched the yellow eyes dimmed into nothing as it disappeared into the pile of rubble under her.

Rebecca turned and ran back over to the rubble and peeked inside to see Charles laying on the floor with a gash on his head. Despite being in pain, he gave her a strangled smile as he was happy to see that she defeated the Sentinel. Rebecca smiled back to him before a roar was heard within the distance. She turned and noticed that the other Sentinel had blocked Hank into a police car.

Charles nodded to her, "Go, he needs you"

Rebecca formed her lips as she nodded and went over to the Sentinel that was fighting Hank. She only stopped for a moment before the Sentinel stopped fighting Hank and turned to look over to Rebecca. Rebecca stood her ground as rocks levitated over to her side as some sort of wall next to her.

The Sentinel turned and aimed it's gun at her just as the rocks formed a wall so the Sentinel couldn't see her. She turned and ran to the right as the bullets broke through the wall before she waved them out and sent them crashing into the robot.

She turned and noticed that the wall never hit it, instead, the Sentinel flew up into the air and was towering over her.

Rebecca breathed out as she muttered, "Crap"

Rebecca grabbed onto a metal bar and threw it over to the Sentinel as it connected with it's arm, but not the arm that had the gun. It aimed it's gun at her as she let out a shriek and started to run for cover as the bullets followed her barely but a second. She zig-zagged through the field but didn't realize where she was going before she turned the corner and found herself at a dead end. Rebecca stopped short as a gasp stopped in her throat that made it hard to breath as she turned and watched the rows of bullets making it's way over to her. Rebecca grunted as she covered her body as the thought of her stone manipulation escaped her mind.

Rebecca struggled, "I'm so sorry. I guess the future is inevitable. I'm sorry, Charles"

A roar echoed through the field just as the bullets were about to hit her but steared off to the left. Rebecca glanced up just as she noticed that Hank had regained consciousness and was fighting off the Sentinel once more. She dropped her hands to her side as the concrete rocks came by her side once more. Rebecca sent them crashing into the robot as she started to run toward him even though her body wanted to run away from the being.

Rebecca ran over as a large slab came near her feet once more as she jumped up and used it as a guide once more. Unlike the other Sentinel, this one seemed to know what she was planning on doing as she got close enough to it. The Sentinel waved out his arm and swatted her and her stone away like some sort of bug.

"Ah!" she let out in a scream.

She tumbled and rolled on the ground, colliding with some of the white rows of chairs that were still out. Rebecca groaned as she tried to stop herself from crying from the pain she felt in her body.

An explosion happened in the White House as she looked up to see a metal room had burst out of the building and landed on the lawn.

Rebecca sat herself up as Magneto ripped off one side of the wall and sent it near Rebecca. She yelped once more as she dove away from the metal but then let out a scream as she turned and glanced back. The metal wall landed on her knees down to her feet as the feeling crushed onto her. This time Rebecca let out a strangled cry as she tried to move away from the metal but couldn't even feel her legs. She ducked her head down to the ground as she tried to control her breathing as she forced her hand to wipe away her tears.

She turned and looked over to Magneto as he held the guns out and aimed at the secret servicemen trying to protect the president. She watched as he turned around and aimed the cameras over to him as she realized he was planning on making a statement. Rebecca struggled as she tried her best to move but grunted instead. Rebecca had no idea what he was planning on doing but she knew it wasn't going to end well for the President and his guards.

Magneto turned back to the President and Trask, "You built these weapons to destroy us. Why? Because you are afraid of our gifts. Because we are different. Humanity has always feared that which is different. Well, I am here to tell you to tell the world, you are right to fear us. We are the future. We are the ones who will inherit this earth. And anyone who stands in our way, will suffer the same fate as these men you see before you. Today was meant to be a display of your power"

Rebecca watched as Magneto pointed to the men in the metal box, "Instead I give you a glimpse, of the devastation my race can unleash upon yours. Let this be a warning to the world. And to my mutant brothers and sisters out there, I say this. No more hiding. No more suffering"

She grunted as she tried to pivoted her body as her fingertips barely touched the metal on her legs, "You have lived in the shadows in shame and fear for far too long. Come out"

Rebecca shimmied a little bit more as she tried to lift the barrier off of her, "Join me"

"Fight together in a brotherhood of our kind. A new tomorrow, that starts today"


	20. The Final Decision

Rebecca strained as she shimmied herself down lower and lower under the metal wall. She glanced up as Magneto was still facing the cameras and addressing whoever was listening. Her hands finally reached under the metal as she lifted the barrier and tossed it to the other side of her. Rebecca let out a gasp in relief as she relished in the feeling of her legs being free from the weight that was on them. She was at least glad to know that her legs were still working because she could tell from the pain she felt in them.

"Mr. President, sir"

"Stand down" a voice said from the side, "I said, stand down! You want to make a statement? Kill me. Fine, but spare everyone else"

Rebecca gasped as she found this unbelievable to see as she turned from laying down onto a sitting position. Her legs were still too weak to even move herself as she turned and rubbed her bottom half of her leg. She hoped that by massaging them, it will make the blood flow in her limbs more quickly. She glanced back over to the President as he bravely walked up to Magneto with his hands up in a surrendering position.

"Very heroic, Mr. President, but you had no intention of sparing any of us" Magneto told him, "The future of our species begins now"

Rebecca grunted as she blocked out the pain in her legs as she wobbled up to a standing position. She could hear the guns cocking from where she was standing and only knew that it was a matter of seconds before everything changes. She wobbled in her step over to Magneto but it felt like her legs were jelly as she was walking more to the left than straight.

A movement from the side made her turn as she realized that a Sentinel was marching over to Magneto, eyes set on destroying him. She quickly moved off into the rubble and out of it's sight as the robot raised out it's gun and aimed it at Magneto before he turned around and destroyed the Sentinel coming after him.

A gunshot sounded throughout the field as the President changed into Raven as Erik fell to the ground.

Rebecca sighed as she turned back to the sides, "Thank, God"

Hank quickly went over to her and guided her as he asked, "Are you alright?"

"Get out of my head, Charles!" Raven suddenly yelled out.

"Did you hear that?" Rebecca turned and looked as Raven aimed her gun into the crowd as she turned to Hank, "Let's go"

Hank nodded, "Hurry! I'll do the lifting, you can barely stand on your own feet"

"Not all of us" She heard Charles as Hank set her down by the rubble and struggled to pick up the metal, "All you've done so far is save the lives of these men. You can show them a better path"

Hank sighed as he said, "Shut her down, Charles"

Charles smiled and shook his head, "I've been trying to control you ever since the day we met, and look where that's got us. Everything that happens now, is in your hands"

Rebecca breathed in deeply as she turned her body and climbed up the barrier to peek out at Raven. She too seemed to be hyperventilating as she still aimed her gun at Trask. Her mind raced as she glanced back and forth from Trask to Raven, wondering what the woman was planning on doing. She couldn't believe that Charles was actually giving her the chance to either screw this up or make it better for everyone else. Rebecca swallowed as she felt her chest squirming as she wondered what Raven would choose to do.

"I have faith in you, Raven" Charles said from the ground.

Raven gripped onto the gun tighter as Rebecca squeezed the cement under her hands. They cracked and crumbled under the pressure as she watched what Raven will do next. Almost in slow motion, Raven dropped the plastic gun down to the side and stood there alone. Rebecca ducked down her head and exhaled as she placed her forehead down on the stone.

She turned and looked to Charles and Hank who seemed to also share their sigh of relief. Rebecca smiled to them before turning around to look at Logan but the smile faded off of her face as she looked around. She realized that the mysterious man was nowhere to be found.

Raven turned and picked up Erik's helmet, "He's all yours, Charles"

Rebecca watched as Erik got up and turned around to where Charles was caught under the metal ramp and moved it off of the man. She turned and looked down to him as Hank quickly picked him up and helped him up off of the ground.

Erik looked to Charles as he said, "If you let them have me, I'm as good as dead. You know that"

Charles sighed as he said, "I know"

"Goodbye, old friend" Erik said to him.

"Goodbye, Erik" Charles told him.

Raven watched as Erik floated away before looking over to Hank and Charles.

She looked from between Raven and Hank who held in his breath and stared at the woman longer than he should. Rebecca prayed that she could see the love in his eyes just as much as Rebecca could. Raven gave a sweet smile their way as she turned and started to limp out of the yard. Hank sighed as Rebecca glanced down to the ground before helping herself up. She walked over to Hank and rested her hand on his shoulder before she gave him a comforting smile.

"Are you sure you should've let them go?" Hank asked as Raven walked away.

"Yes" Charles nodded, "I have hope for them. There's going to be a time, Hank, when we are all together.

Rebecca looked over to Charles, "What about Logan?"

* * *

They couldn't find him, no matter how long they stayed in Washington DC, they couldn't find the man anywhere. So the three eventually gave up and went back home to the big mansion that almost didn't feel the same. Now, they all sat around the living room in silence with the same question in their mind. Rebecca cradled her now cold cup of tea as she looked from Charles by the fireplace and Hank on the opposite couch.

She brought the cup to her lips and sipped it quietly as the loudest thing in the room was the clock ticking back and forth. She wondered if this was how they all felt when they came back home from their fight in Cuba, almost as if it was hard to pick up the pieces. Rebecca glanced up to the clock as she realized it read 12:30 in the morning.

Rebecca glanced over to the opening where Chase sat and watched the scene from afar. When the cat noticed that she was looking at him, he picked himself up off the floor and walked down the hall.

"So what do we do now?" Rebecca asked.

"I don't know. I guess go back to our normal lives again" Hank shrugged.

Charles picked his head up from the palm of his hand as he clasped them in front of him as he leaned forward.

Charles shook his head, "No. I think I have a better idea"

"Which is?"

"How do you two feel about reopening the school?" Charles asked.

Hank and Rebecca exchanged a looked before Rebecca leaned forward and asked, "Seriously?"

"Absolutely" Charles smiled, "Logan's taught me a few things while he was here and giving up wasn't one of them"

"That's good to hear" Hank grinned.

"When do we start?" Rebecca asked.

Charles glanced to her, "Right after we clean up the filth we made over the last years"

Rebecca chuckled as she got up from her seat, "That will have to wait until morning for me, I think I deserve a nice, long sleep in my bed"

"Good night, Rebecca" Hank told her as she turned to leave.

"Good night, sweetie" Charles called to her, making Rebecca turn and looked to him, "See you in the morning"

Rebecca opened her mouth as she found that she was at a lost for words over his nickname for her. She glanced over to Hank who smiled as he picked up a pillow and started to trace the designs. She looked back over to Charles who sat comfortably in his wheelchair and smiled to her. Rebecca couldn't help but blush as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and gave him a faint smile. She slightly backed away as she gave a little wave of her hand as she left the room.

"Good night, Charles" Rebecca left the room, "See you in the morning"

Hank glanced up as he said, "I think I might have a side project now. Something that will not be in my strongest suit but it will be entertaining nonetheless"

Charles turned his attention to Hank, "And what's that?"

"Making sure that the two of you don't screw up like in Logan's future" Hank got up from his seat.

"Good" Charles smiled as he looked at where Rebecca left, "Because I am going to need all the help I can get"


	21. Soundtrack

_**Special Note:**_

 _I just want to say thank you to all of the fans who reviewed/story alert/favorite this specific story. I honestly thought that it would get bad reviews because I was literally rewatching the movie and placing my character within it but everyone seemed to love the concept of Rebecca and what she brought to the table! :) Thank you all so much and I can't wait to hear from you guys again for the second installment of the Psionic Strength Trilogy!_

 _ **Nights in White Satin- Moody Blues**_

 _ **Have You Ever Seen the Rain- Creedance Clearwater Revival**_

 _ **While My Guitar Gently Weeps- the Beatles**_

 _ **Time of the Season [alternate mix]- The Zombies**_

 _ **Get Together- The Youngbloods**_

 _ **The Sound of Silence- Simon & Garfunkel**_

 _ **Heart of Gold- Neil Young**_

 _ **Cat's in the Cradle- Harry Chapin**_

 _ **The Other Side of Life- Moody Blues**_

 _ **California Dreamin'- The Mamas and Papas**_

 _ **Here Comes the Sun- The Beatles**_

 _ **Time in a Bottle- Jim Croce**_

 _ **Want to hear the soundtrack?**_ _Go onto and type in Animal Urges were you will see my icon and the soundtrack to this story will be waiting there just for you! :)_


End file.
